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.
No posts about this book yet. Be the first in the app!
“Nations fail today because their extractive economic institutions do not create the incentives needed for people to save, invest, and innovate”
“The most common reason why nations fail today is because political institutions are extractive and concentrate power in the hands of a narrow elite.”
“Political institutions determine what economic institutions are allowed and encouraged, and these in turn determine the economic incentives and prosperity.”
“Nations fail today because those who have power make choices that create poverty for the many to benefit the few.”
“The most important fact is that many societies have historically failed because those who have power make choices that serve their own interests at the expense of society.”
Read it in the app
Highlight, save quotes, share what you read
