As Harvard Prof, Niall Ferguson Says He Has 'Ringside Seat' For Fall of the West

As a professor at Harvard University, Niall Ferguson says he's getting a first-hand look at the demise of Western global dominance.

The surnames at the top of the mid-term grade sheets are commonly those of the far east; names like "Wong" and "Li," Ferguson said in a lecture at Tufts University Thursday.

“I know who the hardest working students here are," Ferguson said to an audience at Distler Performing Hall. "This is an amazing time of change we’re living through, and we're privileged at the great universities of the United States to have a ringside seat to the end of western predominance. I see it every week, I see it in the mid-terms."

Ferguson, a noted economic historian and author, spoke at Tufts Thursday afternoon as part of the Snyder Lecture Series. He gave a taste of his upcoming book, "Civilization: The West and the Rest," which he said aims to explain the great divergance - how the Western world ended up with more resources than the rest of the globe - in a way that could be understood by all.

Ferguson explains the great divergence as being achieved through "six killer apps" used by the Western world:

• Competition
• The Scientific Revolution
• Private Property Rights
• Modern Medicine
• The Consumer Society
• Work Ethic

His comment of having a "ringside seat" to the end of Western predominance came as he discussed the habit of work-ethic, which was once unique to the powers of the west, but, he said, has been far-surpassed by China. The other killer apps are also no longer unique to the West, he said.

"We’re living through the end of western predominance," Ferguson, a History professor at Harvard since 2004, said.

Ferguson's new book is expected to hit the shelves November 1.