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> And on a related note, Lewis Mumford, a philosopher and writer, wrote quite a bit about how clocks were (in his view) the necessary invention for capitalism to flourish.

Szabo also takes this up in his excellent essay "A Measure of Sacrifice":

Fair broadcast and verification of time was thus of fundamental importance to the most common contractual relationship in the new European cities. In agricultural societies, including medieval Europe, serfdom and slavery had provided most of the labor. Most workers in a modern economy earn wages based on a time rate. Along with or following the rise of the time-rate institution – including the contracts themselves, the laws and regulations governing the contracts, and the technology to fairly measure the principal quantity – came the growth of related economic institutions, such as the joint stock company. These institutions enabled a boom in productivity and the spectacular rise of Europe from its darkest ages to the modern era. We will now chart the rise of the clocks and the institutions they supported.

https://www.fon.hum.uva.nl/rob/Courses/InformationInSpeech/C...