Stressing contingency also means rejecting the faith of classical economic theory in the determination of equilibrium by large-scale balancing of supply and demand. Newer economic theories, however, do recognize the large effects of small events, bringing economics closer to history. Any number of arbitrarily small perturbations along the way could have made the world as we know it turn out very differently. We are forced to admit that the world as we know it is the result of a long string of chance outcomes. The abundant evidence of similarities deals a heavy blow to Eurocentric interpretations, but I expect that the debate will not end.
Diehards can always look for other unique factors.
Recently, for example, many economists have recognized the significance of information to economic growth. Some have already begun to argue that Europe accumulated a larger stock of applicable technical knowledge than China by 1800. But once again, this may be a distinction without a difference. We do not know which knowledges really matter for economic growth, and how much of them Chinese and Japanese possessed. The pendulum will keep on swinging, as Europeanists proffer other special features while Asianists find their equivalents in Asia.