Gregory Clark: recommendation

Transcript context

…But there’s a whole supply chain. There’s the networks and the search of getting the right people for those jobs. Maybe it involves a lot of different moving parts and not just what’s under the roof of the factory. Right. I think some modern Indian, a very rich entrepreneur, should have a prize that would be devoted to someone who could explain why India didn’t successfully industrialize under the British in the 19th century. Because it’s one of those stunning mysteries of history. As I say, it’s easy for people just to say, “Oh, it’s the sclerotic English institutions. It’s the arrogance of the conquerors. It’s the caste system in India.” But if you look at the details, none of that successfully explains what happened in India. What about the hypothesis that there’s something akin to the Asian tiger mom? To enforce it, you need a network. It’s very hard to just do it on your own. For the network to be there, you need many, many moving parts, major social changes. India back then maybe didn’t have it. Today at least, significant parts of India have their own version of the Indian tiger mom who kicks the kid’s butt across the room if they don’t finish at the top of their high school class, and that’s a social network. It’s determined by culture. It’s super hard to build up just by having a few British people arrive with ships, and finally, we have it. True or false?…

Stored transcript either side of the excerpt. The highlighted words are the published quote; the surrounding text is unedited source, never generated.