Why do some nations fail, and some succeed?

Brilliant and engagingly written, Why Nations Fail answers the question that has stumped the experts for centuries: Why are some nations rich and others poor, divided by wealth and poverty, health and sickness, food and famine?

Is it culture, the weather, geography? Perhaps ignorance of what the right policies are? Simply, no. None of these factors is either definitive or destiny.

Otherwise, how to explain why Botswana has become one of the fastest growing countries in the world, while other African nations, such as Zimbabwe, the Congo, and Sierra Leone, are mired in poverty and violence?

Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson conclusively show that it is man-made political and economic institutions that underlie economic success (or lack of it). Korea, to take just one of their fascinating examples, is a remarkably homogeneous nation, yet the people of North Korea are among the poorest on earth while their brothers and sisters in South Korea are among the richest.

The south forged a society that created incentives, rewarded innovation, and allowed everyone to participate in economic opportunities. The economic success thus spurred was sustained because the government became accountable and responsive to citizens and the great mass of people.

Sadly, the people of the north have endured decades of famine, political repression, and very different economic institutions—with no end in sight.

The differences between the Koreas is due to the politics that created these completely different institutional trajectories.

Based on fifteen years of original research Acemoglu and Robinson marshall extraordinary historical evidence from the Roman Empire, the Mayan city-states, medieval Venice, the Soviet Union, Latin America, England, Europe, the United States, and Africa to build a new theory of political economy with great relevance for the big questions of today, including:

- China has built an authoritarian growth machine. Will it continue to grow at such high speed and overwhelm the West?

- Are America’s best days behind it? Are we moving from a virtuous circle in which efforts by elites to aggrandize power are resisted to a vicious one that enriches and empowers a small minority?

- What is the most effective way to help move billions of people from the rut of poverty to prosperity? More philanthropy from the wealthy nations of the West? Or learning the hard-won lessons of Acemoglu and Robinson’s breakthrough ideas on the interplay between inclusive political and economic institutions?

Why Nations Fail will change the way you look at—and understand—the world.

(I am based in Hong Kong)

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Posted by traineeinvestor (280 days ago)

Ed - Thanks for the review. It sounds interesting. Bernstein also had a lot to say on this subject in "The Birth of Plenty" - well worth a read.

(I am based in Hong Kong)

Posted by Ed (280 days ago)

Thanks - will add that to my reading list.

(I am based in Hong Kong)

Posted by kwongyauleung (277 days ago)

I am based in HK for 37 years since born. I tried to answer your questions.

- China has built an authoritarian growth machine. Will it continue to grow at such high speed and overwhelm the West?
Ans: It will continue to growth but would not overwhem the West. Because the growth itself cannot be sustain. You can google ghost city in China.

- Are America’s best days behind it? Are we moving from a virtuous circle in which efforts by elites to aggrandize power are resisted to a vicious one that enriches and empowers a small minority?
America is comparatively young in history compared to others. Compare with thousands years of experience from other nations, it is still young.

Everything has its young stage and old stage..


- What is the most effective way to help move billions of people from the rut of poverty to prosperity? More philanthropy from the wealthy nations of the West? Or learning the hard-won lessons of Acemoglu and Robinson’s breakthrough ideas on the interplay between inclusive political and economic institutions?

If billions of people moved to 'propserity' they still become 'poverty'. It is just a relative scale. It is not about system, it may be true from some part but not all. It is the DNA of those people, in a sense of mass people.

If they join together to fight rather than fight against the weak then one day they might become America. However, I don't see DNA will change easily.



Why Nations Fail will change the way you look at—and understand—the world.
It is just normal.

(I am based in Hong Kong)