Peng Zhou /The Conversation China’s final dynasty experienced severe difficulties based on its internal contradictions, and was unable to absorb the introduction of important new technologies without disruption. The historical experiences of Britain and the United States also have lessons to teach us about the impact of significant new technologies, and about how those impacts can be managed—or mismanaged—to promote the greater good, or to harm it. The Last Dynasty China’s final imperial dynasty, the Qing, collapsed under the weight of multiple uprisings both from within and without. Despite achieving impressive economic growth during the 18th century – fuelled by agricultural innovation, a population boom, and the roaring global trade in tea and porcelain – levels of inequality exploded, in
