We must not forget that Europe’s prosperity is rooted in its Judeo-Christian values

Jul 16, 2023 by Jill

By Ewen Stewart, TCW:

[…] In this land, as in much of the Western world, we have generally been fortunate that for centuries our rulers have normally let us get on with our own lives with relatively low levels of interference. It has been a mutually beneficial contract providing stability, relative happiness and a degree of prosperity largely unmatched elsewhere.

When we start to consider why the continent of Europe, that cold and rather underpopulated place in medieval times, started during the Renaissance to become the world’s pre-eminently prosperous region, we must ask how it happened from such an unpromising start.

China comprised a reasonably unified empire a thousand years ago with a massive population; similarly southeast Asia had the population advantage, while the technically advanced Arab world was far ahead of Europe in terms of mathematics, understanding of science and art. Europe did not seem in the running.

Was it luck that the continent of Europe became the world’s most prosperous region, architecturally beautiful and artistically and scientifically the undisputed leader for centuries? If it was not luck, what were the lessons and how are they being applied today?

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