How Did 'We' Get So Rich?

McCloskey's 'Bourgeois Dignity' has great insights. How THE GREAT FACT that we live 100s of times better than our ancestors of a couple hundred years ago came about is one. In the 1600-1700 period, innovators/traders/merchants began to be supported rhetorically and financially. Also, #2: 'Conjective' is that truth arrived at via conversation.