I said "one reason why...". I am aware that there are other forces at work for China's rise. However, if you look at many other countries on the verge of indust

I said "one reason why...". I am aware that there are other forces at work for China's rise. However, if you look at many other countries on the verge of industrialization, for example some in Latin America or Southeast Asia, the rise has not been nearly as rapid and they tend to get stuck at the middle-income level (and sometimes worse). Why has the industrialization of East Asia been so much faster and go further than in most other regions of the world? Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, ..., and likely China. Also look at their PISA scores [1] (or other international exams). I believe that one major factor is the emphasis of education in the culture. If you have other explanations, I'd like to hear. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pisa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pisa > The real reason some cultures obsess about education is because there are severe and very real penalties if you fail some exam in middle school. The penetration of cultural emphasis on education is much deeper and broader than that. It starts almost from birth, and often before, and at all levels of society. Many people there pick partners using strong filters on educational level and institutions attended. High-achieving students are admired, not bullied, for example. The real reasons go back thousands of years. Check out Confucius philosophy and Chinese imperial examinations. [2][3] [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confucianism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confucianism [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_examination https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_examination > if all you're saying is that poor people who invest long-term will not stay poor, that's almost a tautology. I said that because you claimed that investing long-term is probably the effect of being well-off. Note: I agree there are drawbacks to extreme emphasis on education. But it is a good predictor of long-term material successes of a community and a country.