Search "CHINA'S VERTICAL FARMING SKYSKRAPERS" AND "PIECE OF THE ACTION (PETER JENNINS INTERVIEWS PAUL SAMUELSON)". THE CHICAGO SCHOOL MUST GO FULL THROTTLE WITH CULTURAL APPROPRIATION REGARDING "BINARY ECONOMICS (SUPPLY SIDE UNIVERSAL CAPITAL) AND VERTICAL FARMING. INSTEAD OF PLAYING CANDY CRUSH AND "ARBITRAGE (MOVIE TRAILER)" ALL DAY.
If I had to guess off the top of my head, as to why Europe become so much stronger economically in the 18th century, I'd guess it had to do with the Americas and Black Slavery. Two huge contributors to England's economy, as well as to the rest of Europe.
I think that slavery did have a large effect but it seems the Americas were quite expensive during the 18th century not least because of the war of independence - the debt this incurred was part of the reason why the British started the Opium War in order to secure trade with China. Also, slavery in the British Empire was eradicated in 1807 and numbers were falling before then. India, on the other hand, was far more profitable and was one of the main growth drivers. That's not to say that slavery was utterly abhorrent it's just my view the main growth drivers were to do with accumulation by dispossession in the Americas but mainly in India (and also in Australia) and then the utilization of modern science (particularly Newtonian physics) in producing the industrial revolution.
Yes slavery provided cheap cotton for North Atlantic textile industries. England's dependence on slave-picked cotton is evidenced by England almost allying with the Confederacy during the US Civil War.
I think Dr. Kent Deng in minute 45:50 said a very interesting fact. Confucius that the society can be self organized. I completely agree with him. In one of the Analect, Confucius said ： "The barbarians with their princes are not like the Chinese States without them.”「夷狄之有君，不如諸夏之亡也。」
Delicious withering scepticism from T Rawski, without mentioning Broadberry, Guan & Li - or Deng's Song growth rates. And E Rawski puts it nicely: what did the Song have that the Ming or Qing lacked? One might equally ask, what did the Song have use for that later dynasties hadn't? But what we really want to know now is the introduction story.
