Books &Arts
The British Industrial Revolution in Global Perspective by Robert C. Allen.
Cambridge University Press334 pages$85 and ￡45 (hardback);$ 27.99 and ￡16.99 (paperback)

The industrial revolution explained
72. Supply and demand
May 21st 2009 From The Economist print edition

Why Britain got there first

Bridgeman Art Library

72-1-350
JUST why the industrial revolution took place in Britain is a puzzle that arouses fierce emotions among social scientists. Francois Crouzet, a French historian, calls the search for an explanation 'somehow akin to the quest for the Holy Grail'. Was it because capitalism was further along in Britain than in, say, France, the Netherlands or indeed China? Because Britain's constitutional monarchy after 1688 minimised the intervention of the state and entrenched property rights? Because the British were better at science, or culturally more attuned to technology? Or did dumb luck drop the first spinning jenny on Lancashire rather than Lyon?
This debate matters, for the industrial revolution is quite probably the most important economic development of the past 500 years. It produced not a once-only step-up in productivity but a century-and-a-half of industrial expansion and continuing innovation that transformed lives everywhere. What is more, it stemmed from the globalisation of the early-modern period (Tudors, and all that) and gave rise to more. With global crisis raging anew, readers could do worse than ponder that long-ago upheaval.

A. 어휘
perspective 투시도, 시각, 眺望(조망). demand 수요. supply 공급.
industrial revolution 산업혁명. take place 발생하다.
arouse 감정을 자극하다, 일으키다. fierce 맹렬한. akin 血族(혈족)의, 동족의.
somehow 여하튼, 그럭저럭. quest 탐구, 遠征(원정), 探索(탐색).
the Holy Grail 聖杯(성배)[최후의 만찬 때 그리스도가 사용했다고 하는 잔].
constitutional monarchy 立憲君主制(입헌군주제). minimise 최소화하다.
intervention 간섭. entrench (풍습 따위를) 확립하다, 참호로 둘러싸다.
property rights 財産權(재산권). attune (목소리.가락을)...에 맞추다.
dumb 無言(무언)의, 벙어리의. luck 행운. dumb luck 말 없는 운명의 여신.
spinning jenny [(초기의) 多軸(다축) 방적기].
spin-spun-spun (실을) 잣다, 紡績(방적)하다. jenny 紡績機(방적기).
the first spinning jenny 세계 최초의 방적기.
Lancashire 잉글랜드의 서북부의 州(주) [산업혁명의 震源地(진원지)].
lyon 프랑스 동북부의 도시(견직물 공업이 발달). debate 토의. matter 중요하다.
step-up 증가, 증대. productivity 생산성. industrial expansion 산업의 膨脹(팽창).
continuing innovation 지속적인 혁신. transform 변형시키다.
stem 유래하다, 줄기. the Tudors 영국의 왕가(1485-1603).
give rise to ...을 낳다, 일으키다. crisis 위기. anew 다시, 새롭게.
rage 광란하다, 맹위를 떨치다, 격노하다. ponder 熟考(숙고)하다.
upheaval 대변동, 動亂(동란), 隆起(융기).

B. 구문
- With global crisis raging anew→since global crisis is raging anew
[세계적 경제위기가 다시 맹위를 떨치고 있는 때에]
cf. 독립분사구문 부대상황→with+명사(대명사)+ing/pp

72-2-352
Robert Allen's analysis will delight many economists, for he deals in measurable factors such as wages and prices. An American professor of economic history at Oxford University and long a writer in this field, he suggests that most explanations for Britain's industrial revolution focus too much on supplyof inquiring scientists, landless workers, helpful laws. These conditions were conducive to a great leap forward but not sufficient. Nor were they exclusive to Britain. Property rights were arguably more secure in Francemuch of the science behind the steam engine took place in Italy and Germanythe Dutch were highly urbanised. The industrial revolution occurred in Britain in the 18th and early 19th centuries for one overwhelming reason, he argues: it was profitable there and then. It met a demand.
By the early 1700s Britain was a country of conspicuously high wages and cheap energy (coal). The great inventions of that centurythe steam engine, mechanical spinning, smelting iron with cokeall served to economise on the expensive factor of production and use more of the cheaper one. Other countries were slow to follow suit not because they were stupid, sluggish or repressed, but because they did not have that particular combination of expensive labour and inexpensive energy.
Britain lost its competitive edge when, in making its machines more efficient, it reduced their consumption of energy: steam engines went from using 45 pounds (20.4kg) of coal to produce one horsepower-hour to just two. That made these machines cost-effective for countries with dearer energy. 'The genius of British engineering undid Britain's comparative advantage,' Mr Allen writes.

A. 어휘
analysis 분석. delight 기쁘게 하다. measurable 측정할 수 있는. factor 요인.
inquiring scientists 탐구적인 과학자. conductive 傳導性(전도성)이 있는.
leap 도약. sufficient 충분한. exclusive 독점적인, 유일한, 배타적인.
property rights 재산권. arguably 論證(논증) 가능할 만큼. secure 안전한.
urbanized 도시화된. overwhelming 압도적인. profitable 이익이 많은.
conspicuously 눈에 똑똑히 보이게. spinning 紡績(방적).
smelt 광석을 용해하여 금속을 뽑아 내다, 製鍊(제련)하다. coke 코크스.
economize 절약하다. factor 요인, 인자. follow suit 선례를 따르다, 남을 따라하다.
sluggish 게으른, 활기가 없는. repressed 억압받는. particular 특별한, 독특한.
competitive 경쟁적인. edge 강점, 우세, 칼날. reduce 감소시키다.
consumption 소비. steam engine 蒸氣機關(증기기관). cost-effective 비용 효과적인.
dearer energy 더 비싼 에너지. engineering 공학. undo 몰락하게 하다, 망쳐 놓다.
comparative advantage 比較優位(비교우위).

B. 구문
- The genius of British engineering undid Britain’s comparative advantage.
[영국의 뛰어난 공학이 영국의 타국에 대한 비교우위를 망쳐 놓았다].