I just listened to a mp3 of his description of the book. It was a masterpiece of conventional thinking. Lou, you might enjoy that Turkey is one of his key stories. -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Louis Proyect Sent: Monday, May 21, 2012 10:55 AM To: Activists and scholars in Marxist tradition; Progressive Economics Subject: [Pen-l] Why do nations fail? Hint: it starts with 'Col' and ends with 'ism'
In the latest NY Review of Books, there's a lengthy and somewhat critical review by Jared Diamond of Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson's "Why Nations Fail: the Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty." Diamond is a natural choice for reviewer since his most famous book "Guns, Germs and Steel" addresses the same question, albeit with all the wrong answers. The authors of the reviewed book and Diamond do have one thing very much in common; they all discount the role of colonialism. For Acemoglu and Robinson, the main problem is the lack of "good institutions", while for Diamond environment is key. That being said, there is a certain overlap in their work that the more upbeat passages in Diamond's review reflects. full: http://louisproyect.wordpress.com/2012/05/21/why-do-nations-fail-hint-it-starts-with-col-and-ends-with-ism/ _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
