Universal Basic Income (UBI) could be the solution to the social challenges of the fourth Industrial Revolution

WHY did the First Industrial Revolution take place in eighteenth century Britain and not elsewhere? There are various answers to this question, touching upon religion, culture, and politics themes. From an economics perspective, the answer is fairly clear.

- By Dr Edward Thomas Jones, Senior Lecturer in Economics, Bangor Business School, Bangor University

Before the industrial revolution, success in international trade had made Britain a country of high (wages) labour costs but cheap energy because of its abundant coal deposits. This was the spring board for the industrial revolution: the high wages and cheap energy created the demand for technology that substituted energy for labour in the production of goods. The fact that Britain was such an inventive nation, full of skilled engineers capable of building the machines, also helped. But it was the relative prices of labour and energy that explains why the labour-saving technologies of the industrial revolution first appeared in Britain.