Examining The Wealth and Poverty of Nations: Why Some Are So Rich and Some So Poor by David S. Landes.
This paper looks at the conclusions drawn up by Landes regarding the distribution of wealth between modern nations. It shows how Landes claims that current inequality between the rich and poor nations of the world stems directly from the industrial revolution, in which some countries made the leap to industrialization and became extremely rich, while other countries failed to adapt and remained poor. His theory of world economics is analyzed as it relates to his opinion on the distribution of wealth.
Landes concludes that the achievements of Western nations are rooted in culture, rather than just technology. Therefore, he believes they could have taken place nowhere else because technology itself is just a product of culture. The values that produced scientific and industrial progress also produced the entire culture of modernity. Because of these values, Landes says, Western civilization provided better for its people than any other.