You know nothing about economics, Jon Snow. Its emergence solved the problem of how one could fight from horseback and this in turn enabled the development of the institutions of chivalry. It was actually the culmination of a long period characterised by “surges” of earlier technologies. This revolution did not come about overnight. The great industrial revolution that began in the 18th century was one such transition. In particular, “step changes” in the availability of general purpose technologies divide eras: once you have experienced a technological transition of this kind, it is difficult to imagine or remember the world as it was before. The first thing to point out is that economic development is not a simply continuous process, but one of fits and starts. Why has Westeros not experienced an industrial revolution? When you consider the evolution of Western Europe in the time since the fall of the Roman Empire – a mere 1,500 years ago – it’s worth asking how its literary sibling could have stayed so undeveloped.

Its technology is similar, society is feudal and even the climate is roughly the same – save for the odd chilly spell.īut the key difference is Westeros has been more or less like this for some 6,000 years. Westeros, the primary location of Game of Thrones, has much in common with Western Europe of the middle ages.

Game of thrones universe