James Robinson
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Why Nations Fail
Daron Acemoglu James A Robinson
- Crown publishing group digital
- 20 Mars 2012
- 9780307719232
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 fifteen 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 Americas 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 Robinsons 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.
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Spectre of the Black Rose
James Lowder Voronica Whitney-Robinson
- Wizards of the coast publishing digital
- 19 Juin 2012
- 9780786963430
In this chilling sequel to the best-selling Knight of the Black Rose, factions vie for control of Sithicus as Lord Soth -- darklord and former knight from the Dragonlance world -- fights to keep his reign from crumbling. Even as he struggles to defeat his enemies, rumor reaches him that the White Rose haunts the land. Has Kitiara finally returned to Soth, or is this another spectre from the death knight's tragic past?
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Shortlisted for the Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award 2012.
Why are some nations more prosperous than others? Why Nations Fail sets out to answer this question, with a compelling and elegantly argued new theory: that it is not down to climate, geography or culture, but because of institutions. Drawing on an extraordinary range of contemporary and historical examples, from ancient Rome through the Tudors to modern-day China, leading academics Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson show that to invest and prosper, people need to know that if they work hard, they can make money and actually keep it - and this means sound institutions that allow virtuous circles of innovation, expansion and peace.
Based on fifteen years of research, and answering the competing arguments of authors ranging from Max Weber to Jeffrey Sachs and Jared Diamond, Acemoglu and Robinson step boldly into the territory of Francis Fukuyama and Ian Morris. They blend economics, politics, history and current affairs to provide a new, powerful and persuasive way of understanding wealth and poverty.
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Diversity in Human Interactions: The Tapestry of America
John D Robinson Larry C James
- Oxford university press
- 19 Juillet 2003
- 9780190286798
When people who interact do not share the same abilities, orientations, or beliefs, the results are often disastrous, leaving everyone involved feeling misunderstood, underappreciated, and resentful. Why does this happen? How can we find and focus on the strengths in our differences, rather than the weaknesses? How can we accept that our differences bring with them different ways of looking at a problem, and that these different ways of looking at things lead to unique, and sometimes conflicting, solutions to problems?
In this volume, editors John D. Robinson and Larry C. James have assembled renowned leaders, scholars, and educators in order to show how these differences can facilitate, not hinder, our progress. They provide thought-provoking and insightful essays about how having different physical abilities, sexual orientations, races, and religions affects how people interact. Each chapter is written by a member of a different group and presents real-life stories about interactions within that group. The universality of these stories allows the reader to empathize with diverse points of view, generating material for group discussion and debate. The book's aim is to enrich interactions among different types of people by exploring how our differences can shape our perceptions of events in particular and life in general by focusing on the strengths in our diversity, rather than the conflicts brought about by it.
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