Now shortlisted for the Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award 2012.Why are some nations more prosperous than others? Why Nations Fail sets out to answer this question, with a compelling and elegantly argued new theory: that it is not down to climate, geography or culture, but because of institutions. Drawing on an extraordinary range of contemporary and historical examples, from ancient Rome through the Tudors to modern-day China, leading academics Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson show that to invest and prosper, people need to know that if they work hard, they can make money and actually keep it - and this means sound institutions that allow virtuous circles of innovation, expansion and peace.Based on fifteen years of research, and answering the competing arguments of authors ranging from Max Weber to Jeffrey Sachs and Jared Diamond, Acemoglu and Robinson step boldly into the territory of Francis Fukuyama and Ian Morris. They blend economics, politics, history and current affairs to provide a new, powerful and persuasive way of understanding wealth and poverty. They offer a pragmatic basis for the hope that at 'critical junctures' in history, those mired in poverty can be placed on the path to prosperity - with important consequences for our views on everything from the role of aid to the future of China.
Author(s): Daron Acemoglu; James A. Robinson
Publisher: Profile Books
Year: 2012
Language: English
Pages: 529
City: London
Copyright
Contents
Preface
1 So Close and Yet So Different
The Economics of the Rio Grande
The Founding of Buenos Aires
From Cajamarca . . .
. . . To Jamestown
A Tale of Two Constitutions
Having an Idea, Starting a Firm, and Getting a Loan
Path-Dependent Change
Making a Billion or Two
Toward a Theory of World Inequality
2 Theories That Don’t Work
The Lay of the Land
The Geography Hypothesis
The Culture Hypothesis
The Ignorance Hypothesis
3 The Making of Prosperity and Poverty
The Economics of the 38th Parallel
Extractive and Inclusive Economic Institutions
Engines of Prosperity
Extractive and Inclusive Political Institutions
Why Not Always Choose Prosperity?
The Long Agony of the Congo
Growth Under Extractive Political Institutions
4 Small Differences and Critical Junctures: The Weight of History
The World the Plague Created
The Making of Inclusive Institutions
Small Differences That Matter
The Contingent Path of History
Understanding the Lay of the Land
5 “I’ve Seen the Future, and It Works”: Growth Under Extractive Institutions
I’ve Seen the Future
On the Banks of the Kasai
The Long Summer
The Unstable Extraction
What Goes Wrong?
6 Drifting Apart
How Venice Became a Museum
Roman Virtues . . .
. . . Roman Vices
No One Writes from Vindolanda
Diverging Paths
Consequences of Early Growth
7 The Turning Point
Trouble with Stockings
Ever-Present Political Conflict
The Glorious Revolution
The Industrial Revolution
Why in England?
8 Not on Our Turf: Barriers to Development
No Printing Allowed
A Small Difference That Mattered
Fear of Industry
No Shipping Allowed
The Absolutism of Prester John
The Children of Samaale
Enduring Backwardness
9 Reversing Development
Spice and Genocide
The All-Too-Usual Institution
Making a Dual Economy
Development Reversed
10 The Diffusion of Prosperity
Honor Among Thieves
Breaking the Barriers: The French Revolution
Exporting the Revolution
Seeking Modernity
Roots of World Inequality
11 The Virtuous Circle
The Black Act
The Slow March of Democracy
Busting Trusts
Packing the Court
Positive Feedback and Virtuous Circles
12 The Vicious Circle
You Can’t Take the Train to Bo Anymore
From Encomienda to Land Grab
From Slavery to Jim Crow
The Iron Law of Oligarchy
Negative Feedback and Vicious Circles
13 Why Nations Fail Today
How to Win the Lottery in Zimbabwe
A Children’s Crusade?
Who Is the State?
El Corralito
The New Absolutism
King Cotton
Keeping the Playing Field at an Angle
Why Nations Fail
14 Breaking the Mold
Three African Chiefs
The End of the Southern Extraction
Rebirth in China
15 Understanding Prosperity and Poverty
Historical Origins
The Irresistible Charm of Authoritarian Growth
You Can’t Engineer Prosperity
The Failure of Foreign Aid
Empowerment
Acknowledgments
Bibliographical Essay and Sources
References
Index
