200 Countries, 200 Years, 4 Minutes,Gapminder

[CardSharp]

Of course they are!! Just like I am allowed to call them on their distortions of the truth! Neither you nor I are the thought police. Although, I have to admit, in Communist China it truly IS NOT ALLOWED to hold unfavorable views of China (or, at least to express publicly).

Because you have actually been to China, lived there and gotten to know what life is like there right?

This is like one of the greatest exaggerations ever! I see where this is headed. All of the success of the West came about because the dirty Americans held slaves.

Bugger off. I learned the role the cotton gin played in the industrial revolution in a US classroom. I think you're the one not paying attention in class.

 

[CardSharp]

Honestly you spin the truth more balantant and with less subtlety than anyone else on this forum.

here read this

Eli Whitney (December 8, 1765 – January 8, 1825) was an American inventor best known for inventing the cotton gin. This was one of the key inventions of the Industrial Revolution and shaped the economy of the antebellum South.[1] Whitney's invention made short staple cotton into a profitable crop, which strengthened the economic foundation of slavery in the United States (regardless of whether Whitney intended that). Despite the social and economic impact of his invention, Whitney lost his profits in legal battles over patent infringement, closed his business and nearly filed for bankruptcy.

Better yet do some research yourself cotton gin industrial revolution - Google Search

 

[H2O3C4Nitrogen]

Great thread! Thank you for posting it.

Mr. H2O3C4Nitrogen, though,

Some of your anti-American prejudice is showing thru in your post above. The two atomic "blows" received by Japan were no worse than the Dresden bombings of Germany or the fire bombing of Tokyo. In spite of the horror of nuclear weapons that has developed since 1945, at the time, the atomic "blows" were merely a case of "one bridge too far" for the Japanese high command. They had suffered a 100 times more casualties before that. The two bombs were merely the last blow that sapped their will to continue the fight. And, you should give the American conquerors substantial credit for the recovery of both Germany and Japan after the war. The benevolent "occupation" by USA forces and the tremendous economic assistance given to both nations by the USA was very important to the recovery of each. Of course, the Japanese and German people were highly capable and ambitious so all they needed was for the USA to get out of their way and help them by investing, trading and giving them military protection. If every nation that the USA has "occupied" were as capable as Japan, Germany and South Korea, there would be more such success stories to put on the chart. Someday we can hope that Iraq may join them. But, then again, Iraq has a different underlying national culture ....

YES YES, i agree that Germany and Japan Recovered back with the help of US but this alone is not the only reason for there recovery. These two countries along with China lead the table of trading giants courtesy US.

Iraq has every reason to join those states one day, the onus is up to the US regardless of the National character.Japan,South Korea and Germany all had different National Character but they still emerged so will Iraq too.

And honestly man my post was in no way intended to show prejudice towards the US.It was formerly in praise of the Japanese as, that Nation has truly Remarkable stats , something which is unique.BTW role of US cannot be ignored in whatever these stats have to offer.It surely is the driving entity of the various paradigm shifts that occurred in the last two centuries and will continue to be.

On a personal note , being a very senior American member here on PDF i held you in high esteem and will continue to do so as you have witnessed the events shifting with your own eyes over a considerable time, i still believe that seeing so much hatred for your Nation can sometimes carry you along to an uncomfortable zone. I hope your doing good and there are no such drastic changes in your ecology.

 

[H2O3C4Nitrogen]

In the 80s, India would have been like all the way at the bottom left.

Yes certinly its quite evident from the success India has shown , that it too can emerge as a Healthy and Welathy Nation and it will.
My bet is India can cactch up with the Chinese more Faster if it can get things in order with Pakistan ASAP and live in Peace and Harmony.
The current state visit of Chinese Hu Jintao to the US and its efforts to kill the perception of Chinese Engaging in any competition with the US can be viewed as an example and a firm strategy to achieve progress and economic development in a peacefull and congenial environment where the Opportunities could be made available for the Third World Nations too.

 

[Jade]

Another small technical note.

While life expectancy is on a linear scale the wealth scale is logarithmic. Meaning the difference in wealth is actually much larger than it seems on this graph.

Yes, but life expectancy grows on a linear scale, while GDP grow logarithmically(the compounded growth concept). Although on absolute terms the wealth may seem larger, but on a time scale the space is linear.