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

Insightfull

I think the book is ambitious and clever, however myopic in its point of view. It also cherry picks arguments to support its hypothesis.

Daron is one of the leading economists of the time. This is the first installment which was followed by another book, under the title " The narrow corridor". He follows and quantifies (in his academic research) the views of Douglass C. North. It decimates the world view of the Chicago doctrine, and provides a new paradigm for how to approach economic development.

Great work

Avevo sentito parlare in maniera estasiata di Acemoglu da due amici studenti di economia, ma non avevo mai avuto modo di "viverlo" in prima persona. "Why Nations Fail" non è solo un saggio economico, ma un vero e proprio viaggio che, al suo termine, ti fa sentire accresciuto intellettualmente e nella visione del mondo. Acemoglu è stato in grado di far coinciliare in maniera eccellente varie materie: dall'economia alla geografia; dalla storia alla sociologia. Libro che reputo dovrebbe essere fatto leggere in uno degli ultimi due anni di superiori, e che consiglio tantissimo ai miei colleghi di giurisprudenza appassionati di diritto comparato; diritto internazionale ed economia politica. A tratti forse leggermente ripetitivo, ma comunque un "must".

Acemoglu & Robinson set out on the mission to explain the diversity in income levels on global scale, responding to various well-known explanatory approaches, e.g. the culture hypothesis and the geography hypothesis. Although their critique and counter-arguments against the culture and geography hypotheses is not fully convincing and remains, also due to the shortness with which they present their counter-arguments, a point of debate, their book does not suffer from this minor deficiency. While their book hammers home their major message of the crucial role institutions play in explaining nowadays' disparity in living standards, I found their presentation of their major theoretical concepts (e.g. extractive and inclusive institutions) a little too brief. Thus, while reading, I ended up several times wondering how exactly they pin down (with regards to clear definitions and indicators) when institutions are extractive and when they are inclusive. Also, I found the structure of the book at times arbitrary, having difficulties to make out the argumentative path they are leading down the reader. This, however, accounts only for the grand structure, that is, comparing chapter to chapter. In contrast, the single chapters themselves are well-structured, featuring an interesting case-introduction, moving on to generalized arguments and ending in a brief wrap-up with a hint on what's coming next. Therefore, I recommend the book to all interested in finding an explanation of why there is so much variance in living standards across the globe today, and of why many countries of this world simply do not develop economically as quickly as they, in theory, could. While the book wraps up much of the new-instituionalist research of Acemoglu, Johnson, & Robinson, it is clearly written with people who are not professionally engaged in social science, or who do not study social science, in mind. It is, thus, easily comprehensible and, with lots of interesting case examples of follies with which 'bad' institutions come along, very entertaining, too. As with regards to people who deal with questions of economic and societal development professionally or as students, it is a must- and worth-to-read book.

This book is a masterpiece that aimed at answering one of the most critical questions facing the world today: why are some nations rich and others poor? Authors Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson argue that it is political and economic institutions that underlie economic success.

Excelente libro. Investigación muy detallada. Lectura 100% recomendable para entender el contexto actual en lo político y económico en el mundo.

Good