have experienced substantial economic growth in recent

times have done so in special circumstances and conditions.

No single factor will guarantee wealth; much depends upon

providence and circumstance.16

 This is particularly true of the economic history

of our own country. When the United States, or what

was to become the United States, was settled by the

immigrants and their descendants who eventually populated

it, the land included wide fertile plains, a mild climate,

ample wood, clear water in abundance, and a vast mineral

store from which to erect a mighty machine culture

formed in iron and steel and powered by falling water

and burning fuels. Not only were resources extremely

plentiful and of good quality, but they were exceptionally

handy. Never in the history of mankind has any group

of men ever obtained possession of natural resources

on this scale. The wonder is not that the nation's

economy grew; given the people (especially their mental

attitudes), the land, and the times, it would have been

a greater wonder had it not grown.



 Only very recently have we come to appreciate

 the unique circumstances of America's growth; only very


 How else shall we explain the richness of
 certain economies south of the Sahara in recent history,
 if not through chance? i.e., strikes of gold, diamonds,
 copper, and other valuables.