Epstein Secrets

which secure private property and encourage entrepreneurship. The long-term result is higher incomes and improved human welfare. What Acemoglu and Robinson call "extractive" political institutions, in contrast, place power in the hands of a few and beget extractive economic institutions, which feature

emerged as an economic success story, and it now boasts one of the highest per capita incomes in Africa. So what changed? According to Acemoglu and Robinson, Botswana broke the mold "by quickly developing inclusive economic and political institutions after independence." The authors wax rhapsodic about

tical and inclusive economic institutions yet never achieve much development, often due to geographic barriers. That seemed to be the fate awaiting Botswana in 1966, when it gained independence. Back then, the country was one of the poorest places on the planet -- no surprise for a landlocked desert. Bu

hat has sold close to half a million copies in English, and hundreds of thousands in translations around the world. "Balance of Power," Acemoglu and Robinson write, "develops an entirely original thesis about the diversity of the ways in which states function, resolve conflicts, provide public services and

ersity Professors at the University of Chicago and one of only twenty-one people who have held such a position. He has conducted research in Bolivia, Botswana, Chile, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Mauritius, Mexico, the Philippines, Sierra Leone, and South Africa. He was selected as one

which secure private property and encourage entrepreneurship. The long-term result is higher incomes and improved human welfare. What Acemoglu and Robinson call "extractive" political institutions, in contrast, place power in the hands of a few and beget extractive economic institutions, which feature

ical and inclusive economic institutions yet never achieve much development, often due to geographic barriers. That seemed to be the fate awaiting Botswana in 1966, when it gained independence. Back then, the country was one of the poorest places on the planet -- no surprise for a landlocked desert. Bu