A History of the World in Three Sentences

A study of 12 countries from 950 to 1850 shows that although Europe at first lagged well behind India and China in numerous technologies, such as cotton processing and textile spinning, its economic development leapt ahead because of 3 factors. Elites were legally blocked from expropriating property; contracts could be enforced; and the West developed cultural emphases on independent thinking, secularism, and saving money, fostering the growth of technology and human capital, say Jakob B. Madsen of Monash University in Australia and Eric Yan of National Chengchi University in Taiwan. Meanwhile, India's technological growth was hampered by its caste system and China's by its civil-service examinations, which selected candidates for administrative positions but, in the view of some scholars, supported the emperor's power and led to a rigidity in the country's intellectual life.