From a TED presentation, historian Niall Ferguson looks at ’6 killer Apps’ that gained ‘The West’ economic success to date. With economy to the fore of political debate (or fudge) at the moment, useful to look at some of the foundations of the West’s economic success. A useful hint too at the changes that are shifting the balance in favour of the ‘The East’; perhaps, perhaps not so much as statistics suggest. What does seem clear is that the basic tenets of ‘growth’ and ‘prosperity’ are more widespread than ever and the economic divergence between nations is narrowing, to greater or lesser extent.

The six killer apps are:

1.   Competition

2.   The Scientific Revolution

3.   Property Rights

4.   Modern Medicine

5.  The Consumer Society

6.  The Work Ethic.

Plenty to think about.

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