Ben Southwood

Founding editor of Works in Progress, Stripe’s magazine about the science and policy of progress. He is a Create Streets fellow and previously led housing work at Policy Exchange and research at the Adam Smith Institute.

Industrialization Scaled When Parliament Made Land Rights Negotiable

Ben Southwood of Works in Progress argues that the Glorious Revolution accelerated British growth by making Parliament a dependable forum for untangling land rights that blocked investment. A legislature dominated by landowners used thousands of private acts to modify inheritance settlements, consolidate scattered holdings and authorize transport projects, while preserving claims for heirs and other affected parties. Southwood’s broader point is that industrialization depended not just on new ideas, but on institutions able to make their application—and agreement among those whose rights stood in the way—possible.

Hoover InstitutionAug 17, 202614 min read