Why Nations Fail
The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty
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Why Nations Fail
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Narrated by:
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Dan Woren
About this listen
Brilliant and engagingly written, Why Nations Fail answers the question that has stumped the experts for centuries: Why are some nations rich and others poor, divided by wealth and poverty, health and sickness, food and famine?
Is it culture, the weather, geography? Perhaps ignorance of what the right policies are?
Simply, no. None of these factors is either definitive or destiny. Otherwise, how to explain why Botswana has become one of the fastest growing countries in the world, while other African nations, such as Zimbabwe, the Congo, and Sierra Leone, are mired in poverty and violence?
Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson conclusively show that it is man-made political and economic institutions that underlie economic success (or lack of it). Korea, to take just one of their fascinating examples, is a remarkably homogeneous nation, yet the people of North Korea are among the poorest on earth while their brothers and sisters in South Korea are among the richest. The south forged a society that created incentives, rewarded innovation, and allowed everyone to participate in economic opportunities. The economic success thus spurred was sustained because the government became accountable and responsive to citizens and the great mass of people. Sadly, the people of the north have endured decades of famine, political repression, and very different economic institutions - with no end in sight. The differences between the Koreas is due to the politics that created these completely different institutional trajectories.
Based on 15 years of original research Acemoglu and Robinson marshall extraordinary historical evidence from the Roman Empire, the Mayan city-states, medieval Venice, the Soviet Union, Latin America, England, Europe, the United States, and Africa to build a new theory of political economy with great relevance for the big questions of today, including:
- China has built an authoritarian growth machine. Will it continue to grow at such high speed and overwhelm the West?
- Are America’s best days behind it? Are we moving from a virtuous circle in which efforts by elites to aggrandize power are resisted to a vicious one that enriches and empowers a small minority?
- What is the most effective way to help move billions of people from the rut of poverty to prosperity? More philanthropy from the wealthy nations of the West? Or learning the hard-won lessons of Acemoglu and Robinson’s breakthrough ideas on the interplay between inclusive political and economic institutions?
Why Nations Fail will change the way you look at—and understand—the world.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.
©2012 Daron Acemoglu (P)2012 Random HouseListeners also enjoyed...
Critic reviews
"Why Nations Fail is a truly awesome book. Acemoglu and Robinson tackle one of the most important problems in the social sciences - a question that has bedeviled leading thinkers for centuries - and offer an answer that is brilliant in its simplicity and power. A wonderfully readable mix of history, political science, and economics, this book will change the way we think about economic development. Why Nations Fail is a must-read book." (Steven Levitt, co-author of Freakonomics)
What listeners say about Why Nations Fail
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- Anonymous User
- 02-03-20
brilliant book
An excellent book and must read if you want to understand why nations fail
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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- PJC
- 12-07-15
Oversimplifying
It is a truism that "for every complex question there is a simple answer, and it's wrong". The authors attempt to reduce nearly all of social and political history to a single proposition about whether societies develop inclusive or extractive institutions. While I've no doubt this is a significant factor, I doubt very much that it is the only one, and I suspect it is not even the most important. As other reviewers have noted, the text is rather laboured and repetitive, and would benefit from some redaction.
I would recommend Niall Ferguson's Civilisation instead. It bears comparison because it is also aiming to explain why some nations have been more successful than others. It is similarly somewhat simplifying and selective, but Ferguson identifies six separate factors, which is surely much more plausible than one. It is also more lively and interesting to listen to.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Matthew Wood
- 05-03-21
Great insight in to why the world is as it is
The book offers a look in to just about everything in an effort to explain why the world is as it is. There are interesting looks in to history, sociology and culture and how the shape the past present and future
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Mark
- 20-10-18
"Best book I have ever read"
The perfect combination of history, economics and salient examples to reveal why nations fail. The content is mind blowing, covering the necessities for nation success and the causes of failure with historical examples to support his thesis. Completely debuncts guns germs and steel which alleges the cause of nation failure is due to geography. The information the author provides to support his thesis, including all the important historical events of many countries, makes it irrefutable. If you enjoy history, politics, economics or global affairs this book is essential. However as I stated in the title this book should be read by everyone. Once you finish why nations fail you will think why don't I know all of this. Some of it you will know however the whole of history throughout the ages is examined where necessary to support his thesis in a way that reveals what the totum of history is telling us. I listened to it 3 times in a row
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Rufus Meakin
- 20-12-15
Brilliant book
What made the experience of listening to Why Nations Fail the most enjoyable?
Fascinating at every turn, this book is essential for anyone seeking an understanding of the global economy and its historical context.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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- LondonLass
- 24-06-14
Fascinating stuff
Would you listen to Why Nations Fail again? Why?
I intend to listen to this again. There is so much information that a second reading would be essential in a few months. However, this will be more of a duty than a pleasure because I often found the reading style irritating.
What other book might you compare Why Nations Fail to, and why?
This is a unique book. I have read (or tried to read) other books on economic theory but none so readable and in my opinion, none so based in the real world.
Did Dan Woren do a good job differentiating each of the characters? How?
Dan Woren did not do a good job. He got through the admittedly difficult concepts well enough but became gratingly irritating with the many non-English pronunciations. He started off reading Spanish words and names so authentically that I had trouble making out some of them, he then tried to pronounce African or Arabic names with a slight Spanish accent, obviously thinking that this would make it more authentic--it did not and it often resulted in the emphasis going on to the wrong parts of the words. When he got to the Chinese names, Woren gave up altogether and used the standard English approximations. The result was a ridiculous patchwork which reduced the effectiveness of what the authors had to say. The various subjects of this book's focus range all over the world and since Woren obviously does not have a comprehensive command (or even knowledge) of the huge variety of languages involved--and I cannot blame him for that--he should have stuck to a uniform English pronunciation throughout. I cannot say, though, whether this was Woren's fault or the director's. Certainly the director has to bear some of the responsibility for this mish-mash.
If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?
the mystery of poverty explained...
Any additional comments?
I'm glad I heard it.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Damaged pack and not full qty
- 26-12-23
Insightful
Expand your knowledge in a subject that everyone has opinions in at some level. Great book and Audio. very pleased.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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- toptone
- 09-06-17
Informative
This is a very informative and well written book. It's long because it incorporates many actual histories and examples to illustrate its points. It is a little dated in parts because time moves on , for example, it holds Brazil up as an example of a society which has transitioned from an extractive to inclusive regime but we know now this is not, in fact, the case. Overall though, it is a good read.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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- John Owen Byrne
- 28-01-14
Great companion to Diamond's work
This is a fantastic contrast to Jared Diamond's work on the origins of poverty. This should be required reading for anyone interested in the real sources of inequality. There is a slight danger in the book where anything that happens which is not consistent with the overall thesis becomes a 'contingency' of history. That said, the arguments are convincing and beautifully told.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- Richard
- 21-10-20
Should have been 2 books
Hugely repetitive- despite offering valuable insight. The authors didn’t appear to account for the reader having read previous chapters and gave much lengthy and unnecessary detail.
Clearly knowledgeable, a reference to slavery and its consequences plus a separate book on the subject would have been much better.
I suspect many readers would struggle to finish this book
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