On Friday, October 25, 2019 at 12:52:31 PM UTC-7, Jim Wilkins wrote:

An engineer from India who resented the USA and Europe's domination of
the modern world asked me why Europe had suddenly surged ahead of
everyone else, particularly India and China, and I couldn't fully
answer him.

One theory: the black death resulted in younger property owners, who could
foresee a long life ahead, and weren't inclined to be staid and conservative.
So, they innovated.