Tyler Jamieson
Don Carlisle
MHIST-115-5195
19 Apr. 2015
To Fail or Not to Fail The difference between a country that is considered successful and a country that can be tagged as a failure relies heavily on its economics. Economics is the study of how people, or in this case nations, allocate their scarce resources (Economics). In every nation there is a government whose goal is to allocate the resources at hand in the most efficient manner possible. History shows that the governments that have accomplished this goal have been the most successful. Why Nations Fail, written by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson, highlights the recurring similarities and differences between successful and unsuccessful nations. Acemoglu and Robinson explain …show more content…
Acemoglu and Robinson would describe the American economic institution as inclusive. “Inclusive economic institutions foster economic activity, productivity growth, and economic prosperity (75).” Characteristics that are found within inclusive institutions are an unbiased education system, the protection of private property and a central authority that provides public services. Nations such as North Korea who do not have these key characteristics Acemoglu and Robinson call extractive. In North Korea the education system promotes the governments own propaganda unlike the unbiased system in America. There is no such thing as private property in North Korea, again unlike America. In North Korea the government does not provide key public services like the American government but rather it is an extension of the ruling Communist Party that would rather focus on controlling its people as much as possible …show more content…
In the 1460’s much of Europe began using printing presses but the Ottoman Empire restricted the use of this technique by disallowing the use of the printing press to print in Arabic. Fast forward a few hundred years to 1800 and we see that a mere two or three percent of the Ottoman Empire was literate according to Acemoglu and Robinson. Compare that to the sixty percent adult male and forty percent adult female literacy level found in England at the time (215). Both of these examples provide evidence that stubborn societies will fall behind if they choose not to take advantage of the innovations that the rest of the world is swallowing
Don Carlisle
MHIST-115-5195
19 Apr. 2015
To Fail or Not to Fail The difference between a country that is considered successful and a country that can be tagged as a failure relies heavily on its economics. Economics is the study of how people, or in this case nations, allocate their scarce resources (Economics). In every nation there is a government whose goal is to allocate the resources at hand in the most efficient manner possible. History shows that the governments that have accomplished this goal have been the most successful. Why Nations Fail, written by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson, highlights the recurring similarities and differences between successful and unsuccessful nations. Acemoglu and Robinson explain …show more content…
Acemoglu and Robinson would describe the American economic institution as inclusive. “Inclusive economic institutions foster economic activity, productivity growth, and economic prosperity (75).” Characteristics that are found within inclusive institutions are an unbiased education system, the protection of private property and a central authority that provides public services. Nations such as North Korea who do not have these key characteristics Acemoglu and Robinson call extractive. In North Korea the education system promotes the governments own propaganda unlike the unbiased system in America. There is no such thing as private property in North Korea, again unlike America. In North Korea the government does not provide key public services like the American government but rather it is an extension of the ruling Communist Party that would rather focus on controlling its people as much as possible …show more content…
In the 1460’s much of Europe began using printing presses but the Ottoman Empire restricted the use of this technique by disallowing the use of the printing press to print in Arabic. Fast forward a few hundred years to 1800 and we see that a mere two or three percent of the Ottoman Empire was literate according to Acemoglu and Robinson. Compare that to the sixty percent adult male and forty percent adult female literacy level found in England at the time (215). Both of these examples provide evidence that stubborn societies will fall behind if they choose not to take advantage of the innovations that the rest of the world is swallowing