Question

n a couple of our lectures, and in the textbook as well, we discuss cotton -- the various stages of its production (cultivation, the creation of thread through the process called spinning, the creation of cloth through the use of weaving looms, etc.). The historian Sven Beckert in his book Empire of Cotton thinks of industrialization as having been driven by the market demand for inexpensive cotton cloth in places like the United Kingdom, where cotton could not be cultivated.

Is consumer demand really that important in driving economic change?

		Yes. We need only measure the elements of the US economy today, where GDP = Consumption plus Investment plus Government plus Net Exports. Consumption is by far the largest element, so it's no surprise that consumer demands and preferences drove change back then.
		Yes. International relationships in the pre-modern era were shaped by rivalries that have everything to do with control over trade routes, and trade was all about supplying markets with consumer goods. Whether those markets were in the Ottoman Empire, or in the countries of Europe, or in the kingdoms of West Africa, demand for cotton cloth had enormous consequences.
		Yes, but consumer demand changed radically once the combination of the mechanical or industrial revolution and the 18th century energy revolution together allowed for a new process of wealth-creation that was fundamentally different from agriculture alone.
		All of the above.

Answer 1

Answer: Consumer demand really that important in driving economic change=> Economic growth is important for all the countries. And demand for goods and services is the factor which is the soul of economy.

GDP was one of the great inventions to measure the growth in 20th century. And consumption is a major contributor in calculating economy. From the book of Empire of Cotton we see the demand for cotton has become a major source to derive economy in various countries. Be it Ottoman Empire, or in the countries of Europe, or in the kingdoms of West Africa or India, they all started growing cotton to improve their economy.

Technologies keep changing and they make the demands shifts, it can be reduced or increased but if there is no demand of a certain good, the technological development is of no use.

Hence option D -All of the above statements are correct.