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On Democracy and Capitalism: Reflections on Gerhard Wegner’s Historical Analysis

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Koppl, R. On Democracy and Capitalism: Reflections on Gerhard Wegner’s Historical Analysis. Journal of Contextual Economics – Schmollers Jahrbuch, 99999(), 1-24. https://doi.org/10.3790/schm.2024.359745
Koppl, Roger "On Democracy and Capitalism: Reflections on Gerhard Wegner’s Historical Analysis" Journal of Contextual Economics – Schmollers Jahrbuch 99999., 2024, 1-24. https://doi.org/10.3790/schm.2024.359745
Koppl, Roger (2024): On Democracy and Capitalism: Reflections on Gerhard Wegner’s Historical Analysis, in: Journal of Contextual Economics – Schmollers Jahrbuch, vol. 99999, iss. , 1-24, [online] https://doi.org/10.3790/schm.2024.359745
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On Democracy and Capitalism: Reflections on Gerhard Wegner’s Historical Analysis

Koppl, Roger

Journal of Contextual Economics – Schmollers Jahrbuch, Vol. (2024), Online First : pp. 1–24

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Duncker & Humblot
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3790/schm.2024.359745
Language
Multiple languages
Pages
24
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Author Details

Roger Koppl, Whitman School of Management, Syracuse University 721 University Avenue 13244 Syracuse, USA

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Abstract

Gerhard Wegner has shown that capitalism and democracy may not be mutually supporting, and political liberty may not lead to economic liberty. Personal and economic liberty once established may fall away more easily than scholars such as North, Wallis, and Weingast (2009) and Acemoglu and Robinson (2012) maintain. I bolster Wegner’s nuanced view with evidence of the early effects of the Industrial Revolution on worker wealth and welfare. Workers benefited immediately, and Britain’s greatest increases in economic and political liberty came only after this increase in wealth. These historical facts suggest the need for a theory of institutional evolution in which wealth enables social movements that often engender increased political and economic liberty. Political and economic institutions cannot in general be designed and imposed. But when the people are enriched by technological change or earlier increases in liberty, then institutional changes promoting greater liberty may well emerge from the struggles of social movements.

Table of Contents

Section Title Page Action Price
By Roger Koppl: On Democracy and Capitalism: Reflections on Gerhard Wegner’s Historical Analysis 1
1. Introduction 1
2. Was the Industrial Revolution Good for Workers? 5
3. Wealth Before Liberalism 16
References 19

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