Big History
The Rise of Civilization and the Urban Experience
William H. Rogers
Department of Economics
University of Missouri at Saint Louis
Email: [email protected]
Latest Amendment: March 16, 2011
Why do cities exist?
Why is there such a big difference between hunter-gatherer
economies and industrial economies?
(a) Hunter – Gatherer
Two Physical Markets
(b) Commercial
“The greatest improvement in the productive powers of labour,
and the greater part of the skill, dexterity, and judgment with
which it is any where directed, or applied, seem to have been
the effects of the division of labour.”
–Adam Smith
(a) Adam Smith,
(b) David Ricardo,
1723-1790
1772-1823
Two Important Economists
Division of labor improves labor productivity.
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Productivity Sources
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Skills Develop
Technology Improves
Capital becomes
Affordable
Productivity Enhanced
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More People
More Diversity
People in NYC are more
productive.
Smith and Ricardo agree, but there’s a catch!
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Specialization in production and
diversity in consumption creates
a problem.
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Coordination =
f (Communication, Trust)
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MC = f (Size, Diversity)
How do you know when
it’s time to grow grain?
Urbanization is productive and costly.
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Agricultural Surplus
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Lower transportation costs
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Agglomerations
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Sharing Capital
Farming is hard work.
Why a focus on Mesopotamia
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Earliest known cities
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Jericho settled around 8000 BC
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Uruk settled around 4000 BC
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Predates: Writing, Money. . .
Mesopotamia
Jericho
What is known about Jericho?
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Population in 8000 BC ≈
2,000
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Connected to several trade
routes
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Significant and well-used
defense system
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Not much else
Jericho Today
The walls of Jericho were significant.
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Walls: 7m tall, 3m thick,
stone
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Ditch: 9m wide, 3m deep,
rock
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Tower: 8m tall, 9m
diameter
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Extremely expensive
Jericho of Old
What do Jericho’s wall say about the local economy?
Why did Jericho develop?
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Assist in trade?
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Religious services?
Provision of defense?
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The area of a circle grows at twice the rate of the
circumference.
If building and defense costs are linear. . .
Southern Mesopotamian Cities
What is known about the Southern Mesopotamian
cities?
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More than Jericho
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Around 4000 BC, pop. 10k
– 50k
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Built before money
or. . . writing!
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Diverse ecosystem
Uruk
Why did the Southern Mesopotamian cities develop?
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Assist in trade? (Diverse Ecosystem)
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Religious services? (Sumerian Culture)
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Provision of defense?
Sumerian religion seems to have mattered a lot.
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Minor gods manage the
ecosystem.
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Religious authorities dealt
with a public good on a large
scale.
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Vertically integrated “factory”
town, maybe
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Plus two middle-men for the
price of one :)
Sumerian Idols
The Uruk Period: 4100-3100 BC
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Urbanization was also a golden age for Sumerian culture.
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Record keeping, writing, large-scale management, bread,
and beer.
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Rapid urbanization often is associated with a golden age.
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Economics believe urbanization is part of the driving force.