As I said above, Galor's work is new to me, but the wiki entry for unified growth theory would seem to imply this very thing, which was noticeably left out of the conversation with Glenn:
Unified growth theory explores the interaction between the evolution of the composition of human traits and the growth process. In particular, it advances the hypothesis that evolutionary forces had a significant role in the evolution of the world economy from stagnation to growth. The theory suggests that the Malthusian pressure, via the forces of natural selection, have shaped the composition of the human population. Traits that were complementary to the technological environment generated higher level of income, and therefore higher reproductive success, and the gradual proliferation of these traits in the population contributed to the growth process and ultimately to the take-off from an epoch of stagnation to the modern era of sustained growth. The testable predictions of this evolutionary theory and its underlying mechanisms have been confirmed empirically and quantitatively.
As I said above, Galor's work is new to me, but the wiki entry for unified growth theory would seem to imply this very thing, which was noticeably left out of the conversation with Glenn:
Unified growth theory explores the interaction between the evolution of the composition of human traits and the growth process. In particular, it advances the hypothesis that evolutionary forces had a significant role in the evolution of the world economy from stagnation to growth. The theory suggests that the Malthusian pressure, via the forces of natural selection, have shaped the composition of the human population. Traits that were complementary to the technological environment generated higher level of income, and therefore higher reproductive success, and the gradual proliferation of these traits in the population contributed to the growth process and ultimately to the take-off from an epoch of stagnation to the modern era of sustained growth. The testable predictions of this evolutionary theory and its underlying mechanisms have been confirmed empirically and quantitatively.