Profligate Blessings

Living in Interesting Times

One consequence of post-modern education systems is that its "graduates" have very little mental furniture with which to assess realistically the benefits and blessings of economic growth and wealth creation. They tend to be taken for granted. It is not until you live amongst people who have no access to electricity, for example, that the penny drops. Those fortunate enough to have a classical education in history and economics have a much better grasp of these truths.

Things which we never stop to think about because they are now "self-evident" have made profound differences in living standards and the material quality of human life. They have been very influential in causing explosions of economic growth and human welfare. Take the clock. Lewis Mumford claimed "the clock, not the steam engine, is the key machine of the industrial age" because it allowed for co-ordinated human activity. It facilitated precision in manufacturing processes. Try imagining what scientific research processes would be like if they lacked the ability to measure time. And do not get us started on diet, cuisine and cooking.

One such invention which made "all the difference" was the changeover from Roman numerals to Hindu-Arabic numeric symbols. During the 13th century in Italy, one Leonardo Fibonacci laid the foundation for modern mathematics. But according to Rodney Stark, he had an even larger impact upon economic development, growth, and business.

Also known as Leonardo of Pisa, he [Leonardo Fibonacci] was one of the greatest number theorists in the history of mathematics. But he had even greater impact on early capitalism. When his Liber Abaci (Book of the Abacus) appeared in 1202, it made Hindu-Arabic numerals and the concept of zero available for the first time outside the circle of professional mathematicians. It was seized upon eagerly all across northern Italy as it provided new, efficient techniques for multiplication and division, tasks that are extraordinarily complicated when using Roman numerals--even addition and subtraction were daunting chores for Romans. . . . Fibonacci did not simply present arithmetic in abstract form, but carefully made it accessible and relevant by applying basic arithmetic techniques to primary business concerns, such as computing profit margins and interest, converting weights and measures, dividing profits or costs among partners, and the like. ( Rodney Stark, The Victory of Reason, p. 108)

This huge leap forward enabled financially efficient business enterprises to develop. Larger and larger--even transnational firms--could (and did) emerge. Abacus schools, teaching the manipulation of numbers and the skills of dividing and multiplying, sprang up all over Europe within a short space of time.

Today we don't even think of such things. We take them for granted. Without them the abundant wealth, wonder, and promiscuous profligate richness of the creation would be locked up to us. Just one more thing to thank God for. The first Christendom was an amazing and beneficent realm. Just imagine what the second Christendom (maybe in China or India or South East Asia) will produce.