William Easterly, a professor in NYU's Department of Economics, and Ross Levine, a professor at the University of California at Berkeley have found that ... "Having European settlers who came to a given country during colonial times had a remarkably strong positive effect on average per capita income we observe today.

After reading the article discuss your thoughts on professors Easterly's and Levine's conclusion that European colonization actually had a positive effect on income and living standards in modern societies. Do you agree or disagree and please explain why?