University
“ It ’ s the politics , stupid ! That is Acemoglu and Robinson ’ s simple yet compelling explanation for why so many countries fail to develop . From the absolutism of the Stuarts to the antebellum South , from Sierra Leone to Colombia , this magisterial work shows how powerful elites rig the rules to benefit themselves at the expense of the many . Charting a careful course between the pessimists and optimists , the authors demonstrate history and geography need not be destiny . But they also document how sensible economic ideas and policies often achieve little in the absence of fundamental political change .”
— Dani Rodrik , Kennedy School of Government , Harvard University
“ This is not only a fascinating and interesting book : it is a really important one . The highly original research that Professors Acemoglu and Robinson have done , and continue to do , on how economic forces , politics , and policy choices evolve together and constrain each other , and how institutions affect that evolution , is essential to understanding the successes and failures of societies and nations . And here , in this book , these insights come in a highly accessible , indeed riveting form . Those who pick this book up and start reading will have trouble putting it down .”
— Michael Spence , Nobel laureate in economics , 2001
“ This fascinating and readable book centers on the complex joint evolution of political and economic institutions , in good directions and bad . It strikes a delicate balance between the logic of political and economic behavior and the shifts in direction created by contingent historical events , large and small , at ‘ critical junctures .’ Acemoglu and Robinson provide an enormous range of historical examples to show how such shifts can tilt toward favorable institutions , progressive innovation , and economic success or toward repressive institutions and