Note: This is post #75 in a weekly video series on basic economics.

While there have always been inventors and innovators, that number exploded after the eighteenth century. Why has innovation grown so rapidly? Some claim it’s because of institutions such as property rights and rule of law, while others say it was because of a a change in attitude—ordinary people who once celebrated conquerors and kings began to celebrate merchants and inventors.

In this video by Marginal Revolution University, Don Boudreaux considers the possibilities.

(If you find the pace of the videos too slow, I’d mend watching them at 1.5 to 2 times the speed. You can adjust the speed at which the video plays by clicking on “Settings” (the gear symbol) and changing “Speed” from normal to 1.25, 1.5 or 2.)

Click here to see other videos in the Introduction to Economics series.