Another economic tailwind that can sometimes add perspective is the technological one. Factories, ships, agricultural equipment, materials... chemistry, biology, etc. The long trend of improvement over long time periods.

There's a lot of emphasis, when we think about economies, on economic systems (fractal reserve banking, limited liability companies, etc.) and political ones. Those are relevant, but... technology is a primary mover in all this, not just an effect of the political-economic cause.