What struck me very negatively about the article was the way he explained everything ex post facto in terms of some positive attribute of Western civilization. It seems something like the inverse of the way Pat Robertson attributes every disaster to some moral failing.
Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University michael at ecst.csuchico.edu Chico, CA 95929 530-898-5321 fax 530-898-5901 michaelperelman.wordpress.com -----Original Message----- From: PEN-L list [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Michael Nuwer Sent: Friday, October 06, 2006 6:57 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [PEN-L] Celebratory Eurocentrism Have you seen AG Frank's review of Landes? http://www.rrojasdatabank.org/agfrank/landes.html Michael Perelman wrote: > David Landes recently published an article explaining why the West > prospered more than China. You can read the whole thing and scroll > down. Landes finds the usual -- that China lacked the proper market > arrangements that makes capitalism work. But then he goes further, > suggesting that the monasteries (hardly what one might think of as a > free market) were a major factor in European success.
