Why do countries fail?

The key to long-term economic prosperity turns out to be politics!
Is it to deepen democracy or move closer to authoritarianism?

The most inspiring and explanatory classic since "Guns, Germs, and Steel", winner of the Clark Medal, the most dazzling new generation of masters in economics, unanimously recommended by the Nobel Prize winner in economics

Reinterpret the fate of human society from a completely different perspective

Why are some countries very wealthy and others extremely poor? Why are poor countries concentrated in tropical or sub-Saharan Africa, while rich countries are in temperate zones? What is the root cause of prosperity? Can wealthy societies continue to prosper? Is the poverty and wealth of a society affected by geographical factors such as climate and species, as mentioned in "Guns, Germs, and Steel"? Or is it influenced by religious culture? Maybe officials in poor countries can't think of good policies?

The author's research shows that the reason why poor countries are poor is not due to destined geographical factors, nor is it due to traditional culture. Bad policies are likely not due to ignorance on the part of those in power, but to their deliberate attempts to support the privileged elite who hold their power at the expense of society as a whole. The key to prosperity lies in the economic and political systems adopted by this society.

If a society can open up economic opportunities and economic benefits to more people to share, is committed to protecting individual rights, and widely distributes power politically, establishes checks and balances, and encourages diverse ideas, what the author calls an inclusive system, the country will move forward. To prosperity and wealth. On the contrary, if economic interests and political power are only controlled by a small number of privileged elites, which the author calls an extractive system, the country will inevitably decline. Even if economic growth occurs in the short term, it will not be sustainable, because in order to maintain their own interests, the privileged class will Will use political power to hinder competition, which not only sacrifices the interests of the majority, but also is not conducive to innovation and hinders overall social progress.

Thousands of years of global history have also shown that institutions can move in a more inclusive direction, or they can regress back to a more extractive state, and shallow democracy can also be kidnapped into a substantive crony politics.

In the Middle Ages, Venice became rich and prosperous because it adopted a more inclusive political and economic system, which in turn drove the system to move in a more inclusive direction, and for a time it dominated the Mediterranean. However, the early elites were not willing to let newcomers carve up their interests. They successfully counterattacked under the most advanced democratic system in the world at that time, quickly pulling Venice into a closed and extractive direction, thus leading to its gradual decline.

The author has transformed his highly regarded academic achievements over the years into a comprehensive, smooth and easy-to-read general reading material. They use global history as material, use rigorous economic analysis and political insights to almost comprehensively examine the historical development of Europe, America, Asia, Africa and other places, and propose concise and powerful theoretical explanations. Regarding Taiwan's current internal and external situation, this book is an important revelation that helps us clarify the direction.

Based on fifteen years of original research, Essemer and Robinson cite many fascinating historical evidences from the Roman Empire, Mayan city-states, medieval Venice, the Soviet Union, Latin America, the United Kingdom, Europe, the United States, and Africa to establish the political The new theory of economics is very close to the major issues of current world concern:

◆Can China's economic development under authoritarian rule continue to surge and surpass Western countries?

◆Are America’s good times coming to an end? Is the United States moving from a virtuous cycle of resisting the expansion of power by elites with vested interests to a vicious cycle of allowing a small group of people to become richer and control more power? What about Taiwan?

◆What is the most effective way to help billions of people in poor countries escape poverty? Rich Western countries provide higher amounts of humanitarian aid? Or can we find feasible methods from the author's observation of the interaction between political systems and economic systems?

Why Nations Fail will change the way you see and understand the world.