WHY NATIONS FAIL by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson
Authors: Daron Acemoglu is a distinguished professor of economics at MIT and James A. Robinson is a political scientist and economist professor of Government at Harvard University.
Book: The main point of this book is to conclude the key factors which determine the different levels of prosperity among nations. Is it the weather, culture, geography? The authors conclude that none of them is definitive. They conclusively show that it is man-made political institutions that underlie economic success, or the lack of it.
Opinion: This is a well-known best-selling book. However, I was quite disappointed with the reading. I think the authors could reduce the book’s length by 90% without losing any valuable information. It is a simplistic argument repeated over and over again. They have a web page (www.whynationsfail.com) with short posts which explains most of the ideas presented in the book with far fewer words. Cheaper and more time-efficient.
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