M&D. the colonial economy

[rich]

Happen to be reading a history of how Britain stumbled/provoked the
revolution in America. Beyond the spark that revolved around the dumping of
excess tea (much of it of the poor and bitter quality Bohea) by the British
authorities to bail out the East India Company, the fact remained that
Britain's policy of mercantilism was not sustainable in America,
particularly in places like Boston which around the time of the mid-1770's
was fading fast compared to Charleston and Philadelphia. Only by expansion
would Boston  alleviate its economic doldrums. Britain of course wanted to
keep the colonies on the eastern seaboard, even enacting the Quebec act
which essentially blocked such expansion from Canada south by among others
protecting indian lands west

It's no wonder the East India Co. is mentioned frequently in M&D, a
colonial 'cognate' for IG Farben, the Golden Fang, etc.

rich


On Wed, Jan 7, 2015 at 5:26 AM, Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com> wrote:

> The colonial economy differed significantly from that of most other
> regions in that land and natural resources were abundant in America
> but labor was scarce.
>
> From 1700 to 1775 the output of the colonies increased 12 fold, giving
> the colonies an economy about 30% the size of Britain's at the time of
> independence. The free white population of the colonies enjoyed the
> highest standard of living in the world. Population growth was
> responsible for over three-quarters of the economic growth of the
> British American colonies. There was very little change in
> productivity and little in the way of introduction of new goods and
> services.[1]
>
> The beginning of DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA will fill you with perspective
> on the incredible natural resources that were America. I thought of
> this with the ending riff of M & D. "The Fish jump into your arms".
> -
> Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l
>
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