Brendan’s Reviews > China's Last Empire: The Great Qing > Status Update
Brendan
is on page 218 of 368
On the ‘technological lock-in’ theory of late Qing economic stagnation and administrative decay:
“The cost of maintaining the old technology was so great that the investment in new technologies was nearly impossible, and yet the social cost of *not* maintaining the old technology, in order to free up resources for innovative investment, was too great to bear.”
— Oct 02, 2026 02:18PM
“The cost of maintaining the old technology was so great that the investment in new technologies was nearly impossible, and yet the social cost of *not* maintaining the old technology, in order to free up resources for innovative investment, was too great to bear.”
1 like · Like flag
Brendan’s Previous Updates
Brendan
is on page 153 of 368
“Lacking gainful employment, these talented young men developed a flamboyant and provocative political style and a tendency to form factions outside normal bureaucratic channels. They centered their activities in such ‘front’ organizations as a ‘poetry club’ [] and a ‘shrine association’ []. Relentless criticism from these bitter and well organized members of the literati helped provoke the
— Sep 27, 2026 02:38PM
Brendan
is on page 91 of 368
On the global impact of the Columbian Exchange:
“Both sides of the Eurasian continent began to experience ‘modern population growth’ in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, due in part to the introduction of hardy New World crops such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, and peanuts. These countercyclical crops served as brakes on starvation during harvest failures of the more preferred staples, rice and wheat.”
— Sep 23, 2026 07:46PM
“Both sides of the Eurasian continent began to experience ‘modern population growth’ in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, due in part to the introduction of hardy New World crops such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, and peanuts. These countercyclical crops served as brakes on starvation during harvest failures of the more preferred staples, rice and wheat.”
Brendan
is on page 79 of 368
It is once again striking to note the similarities between Qing conquest and settlement of Xinjiang, Southwest China, and Taiwan, and the westward expansion of the United States. Both involved a mix of genocidal wars, reservation systems, reeducation and acculturation projects, and forceable grouping of disparate peoples into a common “savage” identity. Both were often driven by opportunistic settlers from the
— Sep 22, 2026 08:43PM
Brendan
is on page 31 of 368
“Usually an empire expands up to the point where the costs of maintaining military superiority over its neighbors along increasingly extensive borders, combined with the costs of internal administration and maintenance of stability, become unsustainably great. The economy buckles under the mounting pressure as the imperial government tries to enlarge its share of the realm’s economic product, and the society
— Sep 21, 2026 07:29PM
Comments Showing 1-2 of 2 (2 new)
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
Brendan
(new)
-
rated it 5 stars
Oct 02, 2026 02:21PM
Closely related to this is the theory of a ‘high level equilibrium trap’: “that late imperial China’s preindustrial economy operated at such a peak of efficiency that all possible surplus had already been squeezed out of the existing technology and expended on population growth. Consequently, there was an active disincentive to move to a higher level of technology (industrialization) because the dislocation cost would be too great. This step could be introduced only from outside the system, in other words from the West, and even then it would be resisted so long as it operated at a lower level of efficiency than had the earlier technology.”
reply
|
flag
Hard not to consider these in light of proposals and haltering attempts to ‘green’ our own economy…