why? i will have a fascinating conversation about political beliefs. and china is infamous for stamping out any and all protests. recently they relented and gave these protesters everything they asked for. what in the world? first, here s my take culture makes all the difference, said mitt romney at a fundraiser in israel last week. he was comparing the country s economic vitality with palestinian poverty. certainly there is a pedigree for this idea about culture. romney cited david landis, an economic historian. he could have cited the great german scholar mo made the claim in his book, the protestant eethic and spirit of capitalism. the problem was that he singled out two cultures as being particularly prone to poverty and stagnation. they were china and japan. but these have been the world s fastest growing two large economies over the past five decades. over the past two decades, the other powerhouse has been india which was described for years as having a culture