On the 21st March, Robert E. Lucas Jr from the University of Chicago (Nobel Laureate in Economics) will give a lecture on “Growth and the Industrial Revolution” at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy.The human race enjoyed many centuries of population growth and artistic and scientific achievement long before the onset of the Industrial Revolution. But sustained growth in the living standards of ordinary working people did not occur even in Europe prior to the 18th century. What took us so long? Why did the change happen at all? In this lecture Professor Lucas will outline an answer, using a version of Gary Becker’s “quantity/quality” model of fertility.

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