A New Take on the Medieval State of Tamriel

The purpose of this post is to use modern economic theories to explain why Tamriel has remained in a technologically stagnant state for millennia. The recent thread which is still on the front page inspired me to draw from the economic history class I took last quarter. The first half of the post will be the economics and the second will be its application to Tamriel.

Others have made a big deal out of how long the people of Tamriel have spent wallowing in absolute poverty. This state of their world actually corresponds very closely with ours.

An oft-over looked historical fact is that between about 4000 B.C. and 1800 A.D, average income did not increase. The average person worldwide was just as materially well off in Renaissance Italy as they would have been in the first Babylonian Empire (Source). Partial Image, best I could find online:

The best reason that economic historians have for it is something that they call the Malthusian Trap. This “Trap” is a multi-step process.

First, economic prosperity increases. This is usually as a result of technological improvement. As a response, population increases. This increased load on the resources brings economic prosperity back down to near the level it was at originally. Eventually calamities and disease will kill off a segment of the population, bringing it back to the level it was before.

For a better treatment of this see: Structure and Change in Economic History by Douglass North. Also, Malthusian Equilibrium.

As a result, there is no incentive to innovate. A lack of property laws pre-industrial revolution means you will see little personal gain, and the malthusian trap means society will take two steps forward and two or three steps back! Thus the world pre-industrial revolution was stuck at a level of production from which it could not escape.

When put in that context, it is not surprising to me that we have seen relatively little economic change in the last 200 years in Tamriel, not to mention the thousands before that. Any technology/magical change would help the land to support a higher population, but along with that population comes a greater demand for food and more disease and pretty soon they were back where they started. That’s assuming the technology/magic is not lost, which as we’ve seen is not an uncommon occurrence in the Elder Scrolls saga.

Tamriel is a very violent place. The Great War ended just recently, and there is still a civil war in Skyrim. Any population increases will result in societal pressures that create more bandits, vampires, and the such. Diseases like Brainrot will also be spread more easily from Mudcrabs and Skeevers into the cities.

Now imagine this process playing out over centuries. It isn’t some god or demon hindering advancement, nor is it necessarily some fell empire. Rather, it is the consequence of the actions and inactions of the men and mer themselves.

Thank you for reading. I hope I’ve been as clear as possible, but it is rather late and I typed this rather fast so I fear that may not be the case. I’ll respond to any questions you ask as best I can.