An Improvement Mentality with Anton Howes

The Rasheed Griffith Show

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In this episode of Caribbean Progress, Rasheed interviews Anton Howes, a historian of innovation. This conversation had no bounds as they speculated what the world could have been if we had utilized water for power in the industrial revolution instead of coal. What if the Caribbean countries remained under British rule? They examined the abolitionist movement in light of the oft-quoted Williams thesis and how economists can better theorize the modern world. The overriding theme is how we can think about progress in an historical context.
Key Points

1. [04:14] Japan Improvement Mentality
2. [07:00] Suspicious Formation of Government Policy
3. [08:22] The Western Design of Progress
4. [15:18] The Water Counterfactual
5. [21:55] Can Economist Explain the Modern World?
6. [28:06] The unfortunate endurance of the Eric Williams thesis
7. [35:35] Could the Caribbean have outpaced Britain?
8. [40:29] The Decline Caribbean Federation
9. [44:18] The Caribbean was Created in London
10. [46:29] Why did the Baltic States fail as Colonial powers?

References
Arts and Minds: How the Royal Society of Arts Changed a Nation

Contact Info: Anton Howes
Website: www.antonhowes.com
X (Twitter): @antonhowes
Email us at [email protected]

Chapters

1. An Improvement Mentality with Anton Howes (00:00:00)

2. Japanese Toilets and Cultural Innovation (00:00:06)

3. Free Trade Impact on Colonies (00:08:23)

4. Transport Innovations and the Industrial Revolution (00:14:30)

5. The Evolution and Impact of Invention (00:24:46)

6. Capitalism, Slavery, and Historical Debates (00:28:10)

7. Caribbean History and Baltic Colonial Powers (00:40:16)

8. The Society of Arts (00:50:47)