>>1) They industrialized under far more favorable
>>conditions, with fewer competitors and less ravaged
>>environments.
>>2) They nurtured and protected infant industries via
>>many measures. They continue to do so today.
>>3) They developed empires that helped their
>>development immeasurably (England, etc.) or were in
>>privileged positions within an empire (South Korea,
>>etc.).
>>4) They blatantly disregarded intellectual property
>>laws.
>
> I'd disagree with (3): Germany never had an Empire, for example... And
> lots more countries have nurtured infant industries than have
> successfully industrialized... But (1) and (4) are well taken... I was
> just looking at pictures of deforestation in the Indian Doab...
Germany had Namibia as a colony for a while. Lufthansa still flies vacationers on direct flights from Frankfurt to Windhoek.
Maybe the characteristic in (3) is better stated as imperial aspiration rather imperial administration
Chris