> Oh, that's not a very high bar now, not being the last :)

Well, your argument was that it wasn't possible, so at least we both agree now that you were wrong there.

> they put the foundations of the high standard of living that you enjoy now.

Again, the crux of the argument is that I believe our institutions and governments are the reason we have high standard of living, not because there was three German companies who were innovative ~100-200 years ago.

I don't even understand how the innovations of those companies are related to the quality of life in Sweden, for example, but I think we've lost the thread in this discussion a while ago so maybe better to not continue at all.