> Why would you double down at this point?

Because the thesis holds [1][2]. It’s far from a controversial theory in medieval and developmental economics.

[1] https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=EUoCBAAAQBAJ&oi=...

[2] https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C51&q=Bla...