Authors: Daron Acemoglu & James A. Robinson
Pages: 529
Published By: CURRENCY
Copyright: 2012 by Daron Acemoglu & James A. Robinson
ISBN: 978-0-307-71922-5
About the Authors
Daron Acemoglu is a Turkish-American professor of economics at MIT, widely recognized for his work on political economy and development. He ranked third in a 2011 survey of “Favorite Living Economists under the age of 60” among American economists.
James A. Robinson is a British-American political scientist and economist, currently a professor at the University of Chicago. His research focuses on comparative politics and economic history.
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Why I chose this book
While browsing around the Barnes & Noble bookstore, I noticed a pile of this book stacked somewhere near the entrance to the store. I have my theory about why some countries and poor and others are not. Why some are so corrupt and others have a controlled level of corruption. I drew this theory from years of reading the news, making observations based on casual conversation and my own experience.
And I wanted to know how far off I was, or if I had hit it on the money.
Summary
According to the authors, the politics and government institutions nations establish impact their success or failure more than geography, natural resources, or culture. Nations where power is shared and citizens have rights that are enforced, prosper. Nations where elites monopolize power and wealth may prosper for sometime, but eventually fail.
Recommendation
I’ve found that the book closely aligned with my theory. The first few chapters explain the reasoning behind their argument enough. The next few chapters provide a historical reason for the existence of those political structures. And then, there is the case of China, which they look at towards the end.
The book does not provide a roadmap to solving world hunger or argue for the redistribution of wealth. It is very unlikely that a politician is going to read this book and say, “Aha! I know what we need to do!”
If you are interested in economics, or are interested in understanding wealth and political inequality, then this might be a book for you.
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