teaghang 's review for:

Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty by Daron Acemoğlu, James A. Robinson

3.0

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Acemoglu and Robinison have certainly done their homework with this book, putting forward an expansive hypothesis concerning why some nations successfully develop and others don't. Their answer is that those with more liberal reforms tend to develop more successfully, while those that don't undergo this sort of institutional reform fail to grow. Unfortunately, most of their argument relies on anecdotal case studies from various countries instead of broader trends in data. This wouldn't be a problem if clear examples of countries without liberal institutions experiencing massive growth (China and India) while some countries that have them are beginning to collapse (most of southern Europe). Still, a well-argued and deeply researched book is still worthwhile, even if one disagrees with its conclusions.