Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against people who take it easy as long as they don't bother me; but it appears that British (or, at least, English) culture is not what it was. Martin Wiener wrote an excellent book on the subject, and comparisons of the productivity of British vs foreign-owned companies in Britain seem to back him up.

I also made the point that Britain is one of the few countries that has become more socialist during the last century (although the Cato index of economic freedom does not go that far back, so I cannot be sure). Sure, Britain has also become fully democratic, more egalitarian, and more sexually liberal; but, again, that is true for every country in Europe, and a lot of countries outside Europe.

Why do I focus on Britain? because it was kind of a libertarian paradise a century ago (apart from sex), and the leader of the free World: if they have gone backwards, anybody can.

If the rate of change of England's wealth and life expectancy turns negative, then you might have a point, but until then you're just falling into one of Will's other themes: relative change doesn't matter as much as absolute.

You apparently took from him that other economic effects (such as a better developed financial system) also reduce fertility by reducing the need for children to support parents in their dotage. (Similarly, so does reduced child mortality.) But Jagadeesh apparently directly disagrees with you. Those other things have an effect, but so does social insurance independently of everything else. I'm interested in how you took away from a conversation with him precisely the “folly” that he warns against.

Nothing wrong with waiting to cross that bridge when you come to it, I suppose, so long as you continue to fairly judge all evidence. (And, as I said, certainly in my experience you're right so far.)

I'm not sure that your use of italics is going to be enough to convince people that the whiggish trend really is inevitable, though.

My problem with Will's position is that, with or without mixing of cultures, it is not at all obvious to me that a culture will necessarily improve, in the sense of providing longer life expectancy, more material welfare, more freedom, and more happiness. Elsewhere, I mentioned England as an example: not only England has been in relative decline in wealth and life expectancy over the last century (and it's more than just other countries catching up with it: it's other countries overtaking it), but it has become more socialist and less liberal (although possibly more “liberal”, with quotation marks). The part of the World where our distinguished host lives, appears eager to go the same way. I admit that most of the World has been improving: all what I am saying is that improvement cannot be taken for granted.