“The Black Death is a vivid example of a critical juncture, a major event or confluence of factors disrupting the existing economic or political balance in society. A critical juncture is a double-edged sword that can cause a sharp turn… — Daron Acemoğlu Copy Share Image
“The synergies between extractive economic and political institutions create a vicious circle, where extractive institutions, once in place, tend to persist. Similarly, there is a virtuous circle associated with inclusive economic and political institutions. But neither the vicious nor the… — Daron Acemoğlu Copy Share Image
“AUSTRALIA, LIKE THE UNITED STATES, experienced a different path to inclusive institutions than the one taken by England. The same revolutions that shook England… — Daron Acemoğlu Copy Share Image
“As such, the usual pattern of interaction between a critical juncture and existing institutional differences leading to further institutional and economic divergence played out… — Daron Acemoğlu Copy Share Image
“Lack of creative destruction and innovation is not the only reason why there are severe limits to growth under extractive institutions. The history of… — Daron Acemoğlu Copy Share Image
“As with France, an important consequence of the British Industrial Revolution for China and Japan was military vulnerability. China was humbled by British sea… — Daron Acemoğlu Copy Share Image
“Though the extractive institutions that the Mayas created produced sufficient wealth for the cities to flourish and the elite to become wealthy and generate… — Daron Acemoğlu Copy Share Image
“THERE ARE HUGE DIFFERENCES in living standards around the world. Even the poorest citizens of the United States have incomes and access to health… — Daron Acemoğlu Copy Share Image
“The Maya’s economy was based on extensive occupational specialization, with skilled potters, weavers, woodworkers, and tool and ornament makers. They also traded obsidian, jaguar… — Daron Acemoğlu Copy Share Image
“In the same way, current Chinese growth has nothing to do with Chinese values or changes in Chinese culture; it results from a process… — Daron Acemoğlu Copy Share Image
“NATIONS FAIL TODAY because their extractive economic institutions do not create the incentives needed for people to save, invest, and innovate. Extractive political institutions… — Daron Acemoğlu Copy Share Image
“The geography hypothesis claims that the great divide between rich and poor countries is created by geographical differences. Many poor countries, such as those… — Daron Acemoğlu Copy Share Image
“Politics is the process by which a society chooses the rules that will govern it.” — Daron Acemoğlu Copy Share Image
“The pattern of vicious circle depicted by the transition between Haile Selassie and Mengistu, or between the British colonial governors of Sierra Leone and… — Daron Acemoğlu Copy Share Image
