ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the link between culture and economic systems. Economics is the science of resource use and, drawing on the work of philosophers and anthropologists, this chapter notes how the resource base impacts on culture, including societal relationships, skills and capabilities, and the rules under which a society operates. The chapter also notes that, in eighteenth century Europe, the Enlightenment and its associated industrial and scientific revolutions created a new form of economy. The old factors of production of land, labour and capital were augmented by a fourth factor: knowledge. This new factor fuelled the growth and wealth that we now see in knowledge economies. Cultures with characteristics that lent themselves to a knowledge economy were most likely to benefit from the increase in prosperity.
