. China's contiguous geography allows bureaucrats to establish an autocratic tax system whereas Europe's split geography …Eric Jones has found that excessive taxes were detrimental for pre-modern China's economic growth whereas moderate … taxes were conducive for Europe's economic growth. This paper provides a political-economic answer to the question why these …

which I derive my theory is the economic history of preindustrial Europe. To test the theory ‘out of sample', I apply it to … the economic history of preindustrial China in order to understand how and why it differed from that of preindustrial … Europe.The theory begins by broadening the definition of economic activity. Usually economic activity is identified with …

The study concludes that Europe should respond to China's New Silk Road initiative with a coherent infrastructure … network and transport strategy of its own to leverage its economic potential. It should not rely on China's Belt and Road … Road" can be seen as complementary to China's efforts. The study finds that the development of a European Silk Road could …