““We start by going back 2,000 years. There were successful civilizations in Rome, China and later in western Europe. These leading countries expanded by exploiting their natural resources and their particular technologies. However, they could not break through these limits; they could not break away from their agricultural and trading foundations; they did not achieve economic growth. These countries went as far as they could go with their particular products and technologies but did not develop new products and new industries to move into sustained growth.””
