Gandalf, in the recent history in which there is sufficiently detailed information, Morris' index shows four dramatic rises in wealth. The Roman, The Song and both east and west following the industrial revolution. Islam and the Caliphate had the greatest opportunity. Not only did they have the biggest empire that had ever existed, they also had an empire covering most of the west, which for all of human history until that point had been the most advanced civilisation on earth. On top of that, it started with higher standards than the Romans, and had both the Roman and later the Song example of how to build an advanced civilisation. Some kind of massive leap forward should have been inevitable based merely on the sudden trade opportunities. Those opportunities were exploited, but something else was counteracting the beneficial impact - Islam. Despite having the greatest opportunity the Caliphate achieved nothing. The Caliphate is the stagnation of western civilisation between the Roman Empire and the industrial revolution. It locked in the dramatic decline following Rome's collapse. It presided over the first time in human history that eastern civilisation overtook western.
I am not sure how you can keep a straight face while trotting out these lame excuses. None of them even make sense. You cannot even read the graph properly.
Quote:The fact that it was conquered in a much shorter time is exactly my point- they took over areas that had been devastated by neglect, war and population upheavals, and you expect them to get prosperity levels up to Roman levels in a couple of centuries (the height of the golden age that you mock).
Yes Gandalf. Even faster, as happened later. It only took the Romans a couple of centuries, and they were starting from even worse conditions and did not have an example to follow. The economic benefits should have been immediate. They were immediate, but were offset by the imposition of Islam. It does not take a few centuries to see the benefit of a massive free trade zone.
The fact that it was conquered in a shorter period of time demonstrates that history was speeding up. There is no reason why the benefit to humanity from the free trade should not have accelerated just as the ability to build an empire did. When you do something the second time round, it is easier, not harder, even if your first attempt is mostly destroyed. You don't whine how it is now even harder to do.
Time was not the cause. Islam has had 1400 years, and the Caliphate is still a backwards shithole. While Islam dominated the west, the rate of change itself was far slower than the Roman's achieved, to the point that it was negligible and was eventually reversed. It could not even recreate what had already been demonstrated for them.
Quote:Western Europe had little to do with later Roman prosperity.
And yet, for some reason, you just blamed western Europe for Islam's lack of prosperity. Any excuse will do for you, no matter how feeble or illogical.
Quote:What Rome's prosperity did have a lot to do with was the inheritance of mature and stable empires that were still intact and hadn't declined too dramatically - particularly the Hellenic cultures in Greece, Egypt and the near east.
Again, you are viewing things from an Islamic perspective - wealth can only be taken from others, not created yourself. The Romans inherited far less than the Muslims. That's what Morris' index shows. It built on them. Islam inherited more and did nothing with it.
Quote:The prosperity only spread to the far west by virtue of being connected to the most prosperous areas further east, and as we know, as soon as it was disconnected from the east, they crashed hard and fast.
The prosperity did not 'spread'. It was created. Morris' index does not show the rise of the Roman Empire as a result of a connection with an even wealthier civilisation that is not shown in the index. It shows the rise of western civilisation itself as a result of the Roman Empire.
The Caliphate was far more connected than the Roman Empire. It was even trading with the Roman's equivalent in the east. Muslims could not learn from the Romans. They could not learn from what the Chinese were doing at the same time. They could only wallow in their self imposed incompetence and squalor, blaming everyone but themselves for their inability to improve their lot, despite the massive inflow of wealth from trade. It is no different from what we see today, with Muslims desperately seeking out any scapegoat they can find for the turd they just laid on their own plate.