Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty

from HadriantheBlind

Their main thesis is very interesting - that there is a strong link between political/social institutions and the economic success or failure of a nation.Compare Botswana, which has achieved remarkable growth despite the AIDS epidemic, and Zimbabwe. Compare South Korea, which was poor, and is now...

from TeaTimeCoder

Terse, concise and interesting. I find this much more persuasive than Jared Diamond's theories (although time-wise it picks up much later). It may somewhat seem like pushing the air bubble behind the wallpaper but it's still more coherent than tameable animals, parasites and other such nonsense w...

from KirkLowery

I think the thesis of this book -- that economic prosperity depends upon inclusive economic and political institutions -- is well substantiated. What is lacking are concrete solutions. The authors neglect to take into account the inherent evil in mankind; most men with power will expropriate weal...

from nosajeel

A monumental economic history that touches on everything from the transformation from neolithic times, the divergence of world economies in the last five centuries, and the recent economic history. At times polemical, it effectively and convincingly presents the theory that institutions (specific...

from jasonlf

A monumental economic history that touches on everything from the transformation from neolithic times, the divergence of world economies in the last five centuries, and the recent economic history. At times polemical, it effectively and convincingly presents the theory that institutions (specific...