1 / 15

The Six Killer Apps of Prosperity

The Six Killer Apps of Prosperity. An introduction to Niall Ferguson’s lecture. The Great Divergence. The separation in wealth/innovation/etc. between the developing world (Asia, South America & Africa) and the West (Europe, North America & Australia).

ronda
Download Presentation

The Six Killer Apps of Prosperity

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. The Six Killer Apps of Prosperity An introduction to Niall Ferguson’s lecture

  2. The Great Divergence • The separation in wealth/innovation/etc. between the developing world (Asia, South America & Africa) and the West (Europe, North America& Australia). • Ferguson wants to understand how this divergence occurred, what caused the divergence, and the future of the world economy now that the gap is closing.

  3. Background to Ferguson’s Historical References • Mughal Empire (1526-1857)

  4. Background to Ferguson’s Historical References • Ottoman Empire (1299–1923)

  5. Background to Ferguson’s Historical References • Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) • First to write the Oxford Dictionary • Documented behaviors and tics led historians to diagnose him with Tourette’s Syndrome posthumously • Famous British philosopher and author

  6. Background to Ferguson’s Historical References • Ibrahim Muteferrika • Originally from Transylvania, a convert to Islam • An Ottoman diplomat, publisher, courtier, economist, geographer, man of letters, astronomer, historian scholar and theologian. • First Muslim to run a printing press with moveable Arabic type

  7. “It’s not geography” • East Germany/ West Germany • Communism/ Capitalism • Trabant vs. Mercedes Benz • North Korea/ South Korea • Communism/ Capitalism

  8. What has created the divergence? • Ferguson says it is a society’s ideas and institutions, not geography, that creates the Great Divergence. • Adam Smith, not Sean Connery • 1776, publishes Wealth of Nations

  9. Competition • Europe • Political units • China • Uniformity • Imperial civil service examinations

  10. Scientific Revolution • Europe • Experimental method • “…gave man control over nature.” • The Orient and Arab world • Theocracy

  11. John Locke and property rights • Influential thinker of the Enlightenment • Social contract theory • The relation of natural and legal rights • Theory of value and property • “Argues that the individual ownership of goods and property is justified by the labor exerted to produce those goods or utilize property to produce goods beneficial to human society.” • Ferguson’s example of indentured servitude • Importance of property ownership.

  12. Modern Medicine • Modern Medicine • Breakthroughs in curing infectious diseases • Sorcery

  13. The consumer society • The Consumer Society • The foundation of industrial society • “You want people to buy a lot of clothes.” • “Propels economic growth, even more than technological innovations.” • Bare Necessities • Mahatma Ghandi • Leader in India’s nationalist movement 1915-1947 • Swaraj: self-rule • Sarvodaya: end poverty through improvements in cottage industry

  14. The Work ethic • The Work Ethic • Max Weber • The “Protestant Work Ethic” • Leisure Preference • Now the preference of the West?

  15. The killer Apps can be downloaded • The Great Re-convergence • Is the West deleting its own apps? • Does the sequencing of the “download” matter? • Do these killer apps need to occur in a particular order? • Africa- Libya • Can China do without having property rights?

More Related