From: john@jfeldredge.com   
      
   On Sun, 06 Jul 2014 23:42:16 -0700, David Friedman wrote:   
      
   >   
   > How large are transportation costs relative to the value of the goods   
   > transported? I've seen the claim that, in medieval Europe, grain   
   > transported by land doubled its price in twenty miles. If that is   
   > correct, it would mean that a relatively local famine could produce   
   > substantial starvation and emigration. Also that it would matter a lot   
   > whether you were close to water transport. You could still have long   
   > distance trade (and, in the Middle Ages, did), but it would be either by   
   > water or of goods with very high value to weight, such as silk and gem   
   > stones.   
      
   I have read that, prior to the introduction of railroads, it was cheaper   
   to ship goods from east-coast US harbor cities to European ports than it   
   was to transmit the same goods 20 miles inland.  Even when cities began   
   to develop in the interior, they were almost always on navigable rivers.   
      
   Another consideration is whether the civilization is dependent upon   
   falling water as its primary energy source.  Quite a lot of early   
   American industrial development was along the fall line, the point where   
   you reach the first waterfall when traveling upstream, because of   
   dependence upon water power.  One reason that industry developed faster   
   in the Northeast USA than in the Southeast USA was that the broad coastal   
   plains of the Southeast often resulted in the fall line being far enough   
   upstream that it was difficult or impossible for an ocean-going vessel to   
   sail up to the fall line.   
      
   There was a limited usage, particularly in England, of water-powered   
   grist mills being located on tethered barges.  The amount of energy   
   available from such an approach is limited compared to what you get from   
   a waterfall or dam, however.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)