Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty
by Daron Acemoğlu
View on GoodreadsSimilar people, very different outcomes: North and South Korea are Acemoğlu and Robinson's central illustration. Prosperity, in their account, comes from institutions rather than geography, climate or culture, and you can sort those into inclusive ones that spread power and property rights broadly and extractive ones that let a narrow elite keep both.
Core ideas
- Elites fear disruption: Extractive elites block growth because disruptive innovation threatens their position, and prosperity also requires a state centralized enough to function.
- Critical junctures: The Black Death, the European discovery of the Americas and the Glorious Revolution pushed countries onto diverging institutional paths.
- No guarantees: The authors ask whether China's authoritarian growth can last, and whether Western inclusive institutions could erode toward oligarchic capture.
Published2012
Pages529
ISBN9780307719218
ReadOct 2024
