CONTENTS
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
P REFACE
Why Egyptians filled Tahrir Square to bring down Hosni
Mubarak and what it means for our understanding of the
causes of prosperity and poverty
1 .
S O C LOSE AND Y ET S O D IFFERENT
Nogales, Arizona, and Nogales, Sonora, have the same
people, culture, and geography. Why is one rich and one
poor?
2 .
T HEORIES T HAT D ON’T W ORK
Poor countries are poor not because of their geographies
or cultures, or because their leaders do not know which
policies will enrich their citizens
3 .
T HE M AKING OF P ROSPERITY AND P OVERTY
How prosperity and poverty are determined by the
incentives created by institutions, and how politics
determines what institutions a nation has
4 .
S MALL D IFFERENCES AND C RITICAL J UNCTURES: T HE W EIGHT
OF H ISTORY
How institutions change through political conflict and how
the past shapes the present
5 .
“I ’VE S EEN THE F UTURE, AND I T W ORKS ” : G ROWTH U NDER