The 6 killer apps of prosperity TED Talk

TED Talk ^ | 2011 | Niall Ferguson

[tbw2]

We know that most of that wealth was made after the year 1800. And we know that most of it is currently owned by people we might call Westerners: Europeans, North Americans, Australasians. 19 percent of the world's population today, Westerners own two-thirds of its wealth.

Economic historians call this "The Great Divergence." And this slide here is the best simplification of the Great Divergence story I can offer you. It's basically two ratios of per capita GDP, per capita gross domestic product, so average income. One, the red line, is the ratio of British to Indian per capita income. And the blue line is the ratio of American to Chinese. And this chart goes back to 1500. And you can see here that there's an exponential Great Divergence. They start off pretty close together. In fact, in 1500, the average Chinese was richer than the average North American. When you get to the 1970s, which is where this chart ends, the average Briton is more than 10 times richer than the average Indian. And that's allowing for differences in the cost of living. It's based on purchasing power parity. The average American is nearly 20 times richer than the average Chinese by the 1970s.

Why? Because of the six KILLER APPS of prosperity?

[spetznaz]

It definitely has changed. A lot. Once it was about Conservative principles. Now it’s about coded messages and the latest conspiracies. On another thread I have an open challenge …as expected, so far no takers.

[tbw2]

Scientific revolution
Property rights
Modern medicine
consumer society
Protestant work ethic
Competition/capitalism

[tbw2]

He specifically stated property rights. Otherwise, people are reluctant to invest or unable to do so.

Scientific revolution
Property rights
Modern medicine
consumer society
Protestant work ethic
Competition/capitalism

[aspasia]

One missing: Adam and Eve.