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A Promised Land
- 著者: Barack Obama
- ナレーター: Barack Obama
- 再生時間: 29 時間 10 分
- 完全版
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In the stirring, highly anticipated first volume of his presidential memoirs, Barack Obama tells the story of his improbable odyssey from young man searching for his identity to leader of the free world, describing in strikingly personal detail both his political education and the landmark moments of the first term of his historic presidency - a time of dramatic transformation and turmoil.
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Good Economics for Hard Times
- Better Answers to Our Biggest Problems
- 著者: Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo
- ナレーター: James Lurie
- 再生時間: 14 時間 44 分
- 完全版
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ナレーション
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Figuring out how to deal with today's critical economic problems is perhaps the great challenge of our time. Much greater than space travel, what is at stake is the whole idea of the good life as we have known it. Immigration and inequality, globalisation and technological disruption, slowing growth and accelerating climate change - these are sources of great anxiety across the world. The resources to address these challenges are there - what we lack are ideas that will help us jump the wall of disagreement and distrust that divides us.
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Sapiens
- A Brief History of Humankind
- 著者: Yuval Noah Harari
- ナレーター: Derek Perkins
- 再生時間: 15 時間 17 分
- 完全版
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Most books about the history of humanity pursue either a historical or a biological approach, but Dr. Yuval Noah Harari breaks the mold with this highly original book. From examining the role evolving humans have played in the global ecosystem to charting the rise of empires, Sapiens integrates history and science to reconsider accepted narratives, connect past developments with contemporary concerns, and examine specific events within the context of larger ideas.
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History and future of human
- 投稿者: Amazon カスタマー 日付: 2019/03/29
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Capital in the Twenty-First Century
- 著者: Thomas Piketty, Arthur Goldhammer (translator)
- ナレーター: L. J. Ganser
- 再生時間: 24 時間 58 分
- 完全版
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What are the grand dynamics that drive the accumulation and distribution of capital? Questions about the long-term evolution of inequality, the concentration of wealth, and the prospects for economic growth lie at the heart of political economy. But satisfactory answers have been hard to find for lack of adequate data and clear guiding theories.
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Upheaval
- Turning Points for Nations in Crisis
- 著者: Jared Diamond
- ナレーター: Henry Strozier
- 再生時間: 18 時間 44 分
- 完全版
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In his earlier best sellers Guns, Germs and Steel and Collapse, Jared Diamond transformed our understanding of what makes civilizations rise and fall. Now, in the final audiobook in this monumental trilogy, he reveals how successful nations recover from crisis through selective change - a coping mechanism more commonly associated with personal trauma.
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歴史のジェネラリスト
- 投稿者: 出張勝也 日付: 2019/12/10
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Factfulness
- Ten Reasons We're Wrong About The World - And Why Things Are Better Than You Think
- 著者: Hans Rosling, Ola Rosling, Anna Rosling Rönnlund
- ナレーター: Simon Slater
- 再生時間: 7 時間 59 分
- 完全版
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Factfulness: The stress-reducing habit of carrying only opinions for which you have strong supporting facts. When asked simple questions about global trends - why the world's population is increasing; how many young women go to school; how many of us live in poverty - we systematically get the answers wrong. So wrong that a chimpanzee choosing answers at random will consistently outguess journalists, Nobel laureates, and investment bankers.
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A compass to cruise the uncertain world
- 投稿者: "1az" 日付: 2020/08/21
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A Promised Land
- 著者: Barack Obama
- ナレーター: Barack Obama
- 再生時間: 29 時間 10 分
- 完全版
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総合評価
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ナレーション
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ストーリー
In the stirring, highly anticipated first volume of his presidential memoirs, Barack Obama tells the story of his improbable odyssey from young man searching for his identity to leader of the free world, describing in strikingly personal detail both his political education and the landmark moments of the first term of his historic presidency - a time of dramatic transformation and turmoil.
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Good Economics for Hard Times
- Better Answers to Our Biggest Problems
- 著者: Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo
- ナレーター: James Lurie
- 再生時間: 14 時間 44 分
- 完全版
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総合評価
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ナレーション
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ストーリー
Figuring out how to deal with today's critical economic problems is perhaps the great challenge of our time. Much greater than space travel, what is at stake is the whole idea of the good life as we have known it. Immigration and inequality, globalisation and technological disruption, slowing growth and accelerating climate change - these are sources of great anxiety across the world. The resources to address these challenges are there - what we lack are ideas that will help us jump the wall of disagreement and distrust that divides us.
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Sapiens
- A Brief History of Humankind
- 著者: Yuval Noah Harari
- ナレーター: Derek Perkins
- 再生時間: 15 時間 17 分
- 完全版
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総合評価
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ナレーション
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ストーリー
Most books about the history of humanity pursue either a historical or a biological approach, but Dr. Yuval Noah Harari breaks the mold with this highly original book. From examining the role evolving humans have played in the global ecosystem to charting the rise of empires, Sapiens integrates history and science to reconsider accepted narratives, connect past developments with contemporary concerns, and examine specific events within the context of larger ideas.
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History and future of human
- 投稿者: Amazon カスタマー 日付: 2019/03/29
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Capital in the Twenty-First Century
- 著者: Thomas Piketty, Arthur Goldhammer (translator)
- ナレーター: L. J. Ganser
- 再生時間: 24 時間 58 分
- 完全版
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総合評価
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ナレーション
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ストーリー
What are the grand dynamics that drive the accumulation and distribution of capital? Questions about the long-term evolution of inequality, the concentration of wealth, and the prospects for economic growth lie at the heart of political economy. But satisfactory answers have been hard to find for lack of adequate data and clear guiding theories.
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Upheaval
- Turning Points for Nations in Crisis
- 著者: Jared Diamond
- ナレーター: Henry Strozier
- 再生時間: 18 時間 44 分
- 完全版
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総合評価
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ナレーション
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ストーリー
In his earlier best sellers Guns, Germs and Steel and Collapse, Jared Diamond transformed our understanding of what makes civilizations rise and fall. Now, in the final audiobook in this monumental trilogy, he reveals how successful nations recover from crisis through selective change - a coping mechanism more commonly associated with personal trauma.
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歴史のジェネラリスト
- 投稿者: 出張勝也 日付: 2019/12/10
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Factfulness
- Ten Reasons We're Wrong About The World - And Why Things Are Better Than You Think
- 著者: Hans Rosling, Ola Rosling, Anna Rosling Rönnlund
- ナレーター: Simon Slater
- 再生時間: 7 時間 59 分
- 完全版
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総合評価
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ナレーション
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ストーリー
Factfulness: The stress-reducing habit of carrying only opinions for which you have strong supporting facts. When asked simple questions about global trends - why the world's population is increasing; how many young women go to school; how many of us live in poverty - we systematically get the answers wrong. So wrong that a chimpanzee choosing answers at random will consistently outguess journalists, Nobel laureates, and investment bankers.
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A compass to cruise the uncertain world
- 投稿者: "1az" 日付: 2020/08/21
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21 Lessons for the 21st Century
- 著者: Yuval Noah Harari
- ナレーター: Derek Perkins
- 再生時間: 11 時間 41 分
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Sapiens showed us where we came from. Homo Deus looked to the future. 21 Lessons for the 21st Century explores the present. How can we protect ourselves from nuclear war, ecological cataclysms and technological disruptions? What can we do about the epidemic of fake news or the threat of terrorism? What should we teach our children? Yuval Noah Harari takes us on a thrilling journey through today’s most urgent issues.
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Very intellectual
- 投稿者: Amazon カスタマー 日付: 2020/01/19
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The Narrow Corridor
- States, Societies, and the Fate of Liberty
- 著者: Daron Acemoglu, James A. Robinson
- ナレーター: Stephen Graybill
- 再生時間: 23 時間 44 分
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Liberty is hardly the "natural" order of things. In most places and at most times, the strong have dominated the weak and human freedom has been quashed by force or by customs and norms. Either states have been too weak to protect individuals from these threats or states have been too strong for people to protect themselves from despotism. Liberty emerges only when a delicate and precarious balance is struck between state and society.
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Guns, Germs and Steel
- The Fate of Human Societies
- 著者: Jared Diamond
- ナレーター: Doug Ordunio
- 再生時間: 16 時間 20 分
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Having done field work in New Guinea for more than 30 years, Jared Diamond presents the geographical and ecological factors that have shaped the modern world. From the viewpoint of an evolutionary biologist, he highlights the broadest movements both literal and conceptual on every continent since the Ice Age, and examines societal advances such as writing, religion, government, and technology.
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The Culture Map
- Breaking Through the Invisible Boundaries of Global Business
- 著者: Erin Meyer
- ナレーター: Lisa Larsen
- 再生時間: 7 時間 42 分
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Americans precede anything negative with three nice comments; French, Dutch, Israelis, and Germans get straight to the point; Latin Americans and Asians are steeped in hierarchy; Scandinavians think the best boss is just one of the crowd. It's no surprise that when they try and talk to each other, chaos breaks out. In The Culture Map, INSEAD professor Erin Meyer is your guide through this subtle, sometimes treacherous terrain in which people from starkly different backgrounds are expected to work harmoniously together.
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Great help for multi international team
- 投稿者: Amazon Customer 日付: 2020/08/27
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The Better Angels of Our Nature
- Why Violence Has Declined
- 著者: Steven Pinker
- ナレーター: Arthur Morey
- 再生時間: 36 時間 39 分
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Faced with the ceaseless stream of news about war, crime, and terrorism, one could easily think we live in the most violent age ever seen. Yet as New York Times bestselling author Steven Pinker shows in this startling and engaging new work, just the opposite is true: violence has been diminishing for millennia and we may be living in the most peaceful time in our species's existence.
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Principles
- Life and Work
- 著者: Ray Dalio
- ナレーター: Ray Dalio, Jeremy Bobb
- 再生時間: 16 時間 5 分
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Ray Dalio, one of the world's most successful investors and entrepreneurs, shares the unconventional principles that he's developed, refined, and used over the past 40 years to create unique results in both life and business - and which any person or organization can adopt to help achieve their goals.
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What Happened
- 著者: Hillary Rodham Clinton
- ナレーター: Hillary Rodham Clinton
- 再生時間: 18 時間 35 分
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For the first time, Hillary Rodham Clinton reveals what she was thinking and feeling during one of the most controversial and unpredictable presidential elections in history. Now free from the constraints of running, Hillary takes you inside the intense personal experience of becoming the first woman nominated for president by a major party in an election marked by rage, sexism, exhilarating highs and infuriating lows, stranger-than-fiction twists, Russian interference, and an opponent who broke all the rules. This is her most personal memoir yet.
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Talking to Strangers
- What We Should Know About the People We Don't Know
- 著者: Malcolm Gladwell
- ナレーター: Malcolm Gladwell
- 再生時間: 8 時間 42 分
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How did Fidel Castro fool the CIA for a generation? Why did Neville Chamberlain think he could trust Adolf Hitler? Why are campus sexual assaults on the rise? Do television sitcoms teach us something about the way we relate to each other that isn't true? While tackling these questions, Malcolm Gladwell was not solely writing a book for the page. He was also producing for the ear. In the audiobook version of Talking to Strangers, you’ll hear the voices of people he interviewed - scientists, criminologists, military psychologists.
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Life 3.0
- 著者: Max Tegmark
- ナレーター: Rob Shapiro
- 再生時間: 13 時間 29 分
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Penguin Audio presents Life 3.0 by Max Tegmark, read by Rob Shapiro. We stand at the beginning of a new era. What was once science fiction is fast becoming reality, as AI transforms war, crime, justice, jobs and society - and even our very sense of what it means to be human. More than any other technology, AI has the potential to revolutionise our collective future - and there's nobody better situated to explore that future than Max Tegmark, an MIT professor and cofounder of the Future of Life Institute, whose work has helped mainstream research on how to keep AI beneficial.
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Superintelligence
- Paths, Dangers, Strategies
- 著者: Nick Bostrom
- ナレーター: Napoleon Ryan
- 再生時間: 14 時間 17 分
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Superintelligence asks the questions: What happens when machines surpass humans in general intelligence? Will artificial agents save or destroy us? Nick Bostrom lays the foundation for understanding the future of humanity and intelligent life. The human brain has some capabilities that the brains of other animals lack. It is to these distinctive capabilities that our species owes its dominant position. If machine brains surpassed human brains in general intelligence, then this new superintelligence could become extremely powerful - possibly beyond our control.
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Enlightenment Now
- The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress
- 著者: Steven Pinker
- ナレーター: Arthur Morey
- 再生時間: 19 時間 49 分
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If you follow the headlines, the world in the 21st century appears to be sinking into chaos, hatred and irrationality. Yet, as Steven Pinker shows, if you follow the trendlines, you discover that our lives have become longer, healthier, safer and more prosperous - not just in the West but worldwide. Such progress is no accident: it's the gift of a coherent value system that many of us embrace without even realising it. These are the values of the Enlightenment: of reason, science, humanism and progress.
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The Story of Human Language
- 著者: John McWhorter, The Great Courses
- ナレーター: John McWhorter
- 再生時間: 18 時間 15 分
- オリジナル版
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Language defines us as a species, placing humans head and shoulders above even the most proficient animal communicators. But it also beguiles us with its endless mysteries, allowing us to ponder why different languages emerged, why there isn't simply a single language, how languages change over time and whether that's good or bad, and how languages die out and become extinct.
批評家のレビュー
"Why Nations Fail is a truly awesome book. Acemoglu and Robinson tackle one of the most important problems in the social sciences - a question that has bedeviled leading thinkers for centuries - and offer an answer that is brilliant in its simplicity and power. A wonderfully readable mix of history, political science, and economics, this book will change the way we think about economic development. Why Nations Fail is a must-read book." (Steven Levitt, co-author of Freakonomics)
あらすじ・解説
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 15 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 America’s 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 Robinson’s 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.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
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- Joshua Kim
- 2012/05/01
Pros and Cons of "Why Nations Fail"
I read Why Nations Fail this month while traveling in South Korea. The book was much on my mind as I looked across the DMZ at North Korea on the 38th parallel. South Korea, a country of about 50 million people, enjoys a per capital PPP (purchasing power parity) GDP of around $32,000. (The U.S. is $48,000 by comparison - wealthier but also with a less equally distributed income). In North Korea, the GDP per capita (PPP) is $2,400 - an incredibly low numbers that still probably understates how desperately poor (and hungry) are the people of North Korea.
Why should North Korea be so poor, and South Korea so rich?
The two countries share common cultural roots, geography, and access to natural resources. This is the question Acemoglu and Robinson attempt to answer in Why Nations Fail. They look at examples such as North Korea, as well as other natural experiments of societies that share similar exogenous traits (resources, climate, etc.) - such as the twin Nogales's in Mexico and Arizona.
Acemoglu and Robinson's explanation as to why some nations are poor and others rich has everything to do with the elites. Poor nations are poor because the people who run these countries have made their subjects destitute in service of enriching themselves.
North Korea can best be understood as being run by a criminal family. Mexico is so much poorer than the U.S. because of its history of being run by elites whose main goal was to extract wealth, and who did not need to redistribute economic production as for most of its history the country lacked pluralistic institutions that could check the power of the rulers.
This argument, that some countries are poor because the powerful keep them poor, stands in direct opposition to the arguments that Jared Diamond makes in Guns, Germs and Steel. Diamond believes that the wealth distribution was largely pre-determined by immunity to disease (or lack thereof), access to domesticable livestock, and the raw materials and technologies to make advanced weapons.
I am a huge fan of Diamond's writing, but Why Nations Fail has me thoroughly convinced that more deterministic view of development (as put forward by Diamond and others) is problematic. Why Nations Fail should definitely be on the syllabus in any economic history or development course, and on the bookshelf (physical or virtual) of anyone interested in global inequality, poverty, and why some nations are so much richer than others.
Should you invest the time to read Why Nations Fail? The book is 544 pages, or almost 18 hours by audiobook (my reading choice). Acemoglu and Robinson would have benefited from a strong-willed editor, one who was willing to push them to provide less historical detail (the book has a ton from around the world across numerous societies), and more analysis of the implications of their arguments for countries like China and India.
I came away from Why Nations Fail thinking that if the argument is correct then China's long-term economic prospects might not be as good as we assume, and India's may be better. But having spent time time in South Korea, which developed so rapidly at least partly under a repressive military regime, it is hard to square this conclusion with the recent facts of some of our fastest developing countries.
Perhaps Acemoglu and Robinson next book will take outliers and implications, building on top of the theoretical foundations for development and inequality laid out in Why Nations Fail.
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- Ryan
- 2012/09/01
Important themes, with blind spots
Acemoglu and Robinson’s central thesis isn’t hard to understand: countries with inclusive, equitable political and economic institutions tend to prosper, while those with extractive, exclusive institutions geared towards the interests of a small elite tend to languish. The authors minimize geography and culture as significant factors in the equation, pointing to nations where those realities are similar but political systems vary.
The dynamic exists, the authors maintain, because the interests of an exploitative elite and those of regular citizens are usually in conflict, so the elite must actively block democratic movements, workers rights, unions, property rights, innovation, etc. in order to maintain a hold on power. In more inclusive systems, meanwhile, there is a virtuous circle effect, in which opportunity breeds motivation and meaningful choice, while making it hard for anyone to consolidate too much power over others.
It’s a strikingly simple hypothesis -- a little too simple, I think -- but the authors back it up with a wide set of historical cases, ranging from post-Renaissance Europe, to the colonial Americas (noting the different approaches taken by English and Spanish settlers in controlling their territories), to post 17th century Britain, to the United States (monopolies and trusts are discussed), to the Arab world, to the Soviet Union, to modern Africa, to North versus South Korea. Even if you more or less accept the book’s ideas, the details are still informative. If you’re not familiar with the political differences between imperial Spain and England, they cast quite a bit of light on the separate paths taken by the two former world powers -- and their former colonial possessions. Similarly, you don’t appreciate what apartheid meant for South Africa until you’ve contemplated just how the system was structured to impede blacks from becoming more than cheap sources of labor. As was a problem in the US, too.
The examinations seemed politically balanced. Communist governments taking a drubbing, and the authors argue that China’s rapid growth as orchestrated by Bejiing is unlikely to be sustainable unless the Party relinquishes more of its grip. But Acemoglu and Robinson also pay attention to how capitalist monopolies undermine democratic ideals, as do weak or corrupt central governments that lack the power to enforce laws and protect individual rights.
The book has its blind spots, though. I simply don’t agree with the authors that geography doesn’t matter. Most wealthy countries, it seems to me, have inclusive systems, but were also blessed in resources, either obtained locally, or extracted from some other region. It’s easy, for example, to see a country like the Netherlands as owing its prosperity to being a liberal democracy, but that’s not the whole story. The Netherlands got started on a path to prosperity because it set up exploitative trading companies during the colonial era and eventually reallocated the wealth into new ventures. I also think that geopolitics is underrepresented as a factor. South Korea and Israel might be successful countries in spite of tough landscapes, but both enjoyed massive military and economic support from the United States, enabling technological economies to flourish. It’s not that a country like Zimbabwe has no chance of becoming a technology center, but it would have to find a way to produce skilled workers who can compete in the global economy, without being tempted to emigrate.
All in all, the ideas that Acemoglu and Robinson promote are important foundational ones, but should be considered with their blind spots taken into account. Readers interested in history for its own sake might enjoy the case studies; if not, the themes are pretty repetitive.
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- Neuron
- 2015/05/01
Interesting and plausible, but too long
The central tenet of this book is simple. Nations fail when they have extractive institutions and nations prosper when they have inclusive institutions. An extractive institution ‘preys’ on people so that they have no personal incentive to be productive. Power sits with a few or a group of individuals who typically don’t want to share the spoils and suppresses innovation for fear of “creative destruction”.Inclusive institutions, on the other hand is one in which you can build your own reputation, where power is shared and where you can pick the fruits from the tree that you planted (metaphorically speaking).
Acemoglu begins with a portrayal of the city Nogales, located on the Rio Grande. Until 1918 Nogales was one city, with one history, one climate, shared institutions and so on. However, since the city was split into two, the Mexican and the American part of the city have had very different trajectories. Today the GNP per capita in the American part of Nogales is almost twice of that in the Mexican part. More children go through education, life expectancy is higher etcetera etcetera. According to Acemoglu, the cause of this divergence is the difference between the institutions on either side of the border. In Mexico setting up a business you had to get past a lot of bureaucracy and corruption and one could never count on property rights being respected. On the American side on the other hand institutions would help people start a business. Through positive feedback (or the virtuous circle), what was initially a small difference grew larger and larger and eventually grew into the difference we see today.
The same type of differences can be seen on a global scale where countries with extractive institutions, because innovation have been discouraged, are much much poorer than nations where innovation has been encouraged and rewarded. The most significant point in history was probably the industrial revolution. Those countries, such as the UK, that adopted the new methods eventually became prosperous, whereas the countries that saw the revolution more as a threat did not fare so well.
Is the author’s analysis correct? Acemoglu provides many examples to support his thesis, including analysis of the Soviet Union, China, Botswana, South America and the middle east, to mention a few (it is because of all these case studies that the book is so long). However, when it comes to historical analysis such as this, I believe there is always a significant risk of confirmation bias. As Acemoglu notes, some nations with extractive institutions have and do experience significant economic growth. Take for example the soviet union which, for a while, did quite well. Today we have China which Acemoglu also consider to be extractive because most businesses are owned by the state. The author explains that extractive institutions and nations can generate a limited amount of growth but that unless they become inclusive and innovation friendly that growth will wane. He therefore makes the bold prediction that China’s growth, like the soviet union’s, will cease when living standards reach a reasonable level.
I think there is little doubt that inclusive institutions are better than extractive ones and politicians should certainly strive to make the entire world more inclusive. In this the book is quite convincing. Whether Acemoglu’s more controversial conclusions that China’s growth will stop unless they become more inclusive or that foreign aid to countries with extractive institutions will mainly benefit the parasites already in power, are true remains to be seen. Overall this is a good book and the reader will get a comprehensive analysis of history and the implications of various political movements. For me however, the book was a bit too long (like this review maybe), and I experienced a loss of focus in the middle of the book because it felt like just more of the same. I would have given the book 4 stars if it had been a bit more condensed and less repetitive. Then again, other readers might like this.
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- Krishna1306
- 2016/10/17
'Don't Miss' for politics, history and economics lovers.
'Why nations fail' is one of the best books I read so far, in terms of the compelling arguments and astonishingly simple reasoning to explain the inequality that persists in the world today.
Almost all the economies in the world in the context of their political institutions and polices are presented in a chronological order starting from as much as BC. The insights presented are thought provoking, eccentric and highly exemplified with historic events dotted along the course of time.
Must read book for anyone who likes to know why certain countries like USA, South Korea, Japan, UK etc., are rich while others are not. The reason for it is rather simple and obvious at a second look.
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- Pedestrian Friendly
- 2020/07/23
Lacks Veracity
The theory developed and presented fails because it fails to take into account the willy-nilly reproduction tradition practiced by the species we all belong to. Something that has never changed and is seldom taken into account. Add to that the fact that political power and will are now and have always been based of one form or another of military force inducing it. Inclusive and exclusive political arrangements are thus founded on militarism and there is not the slightest possibility, regardless of all rhetoric, that they will not continue in such a way. At the beginning, one gets the impression that the author means to be unbiased. Once into the narration, is sad to discover that, for one thing, a lot of important facts about which countries are poor and which ones rich are missing. The geography portion was disturbing to listen to, as the author presented both the Aztecs and the Incas as civilizations in warm areas simply because they were located between the Tropics. Tenochtitlan, now Mexico City, is 7000 feet above sea level and its climate is very different than, let's say Puebla or Veracruz, near by. Similarly, the Inca empire was located along the western portion of the Andes concentrated mostly in Peru and below, where the climate is much different than the eastern side of the Andes, and the coastal weather is different than, let's say, the Pacific coast of Ecuador. That the Spanish and Portuguese traditions are to blame for the poverty found in Latin America is half the story because the civilizations found, were living under much the same conditions as those established by the invaders, which leads one to think that similar consequences awaited any future growth in those areas. Finally, the premise of the book and the theory it produces could have been properly and well described in a paper 20 pages or less.
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- 54ibew46
- 2012/05/26
Title Misleading
Would you listen to Why Nations Fail again? Why?
One of those books where you go back and re-listen when it is over. As I rode the train across the midwest I stared out the window and was completely mesmerized by the chain of history laid out and the results we live with today. Turned my assumptions about cultural and geographic advantages on its head, replaced them with the social and economic influences that are the motor of history.
Having just finished Graeber's "Debt", this book compliments the history of influences that make up modern nations, and shows the perils of the 1% face if left to their own devices.
How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?
If I hadn't heard an interview by the author on the Majority Report, I would have dismissed this book as another End Times screed I avoid. In reality the book is why economic systems rise and fall no matter the nationalistic or political trends. From socialistic dictatorships to ancient empires, the institutions we build determine the fate of nations.
I wish the authors had more to say of the upheavals in our own economy in recent times and the influences that brought us here, for instance for all the benefits of the Glorious Revolution in England, why are they now a nation in decline and austerity? I guess they as educators want us to draw our own conclusions about current events, dots are defiantly. being connected in my own mind.
What about Dan Woren’s performance did you like?
Solid, steady narration that is meant to be read aloud.
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- D. Martin
- 2012/08/19
Bad (as) Economics. Worse (as) History.
I am absolutely shocked at the positive reviews this book has gotten, both from people on this site and from professional economists. At its core, this book is nothing but a hodgepodge of just-so stories: every nation that succeeds had something right in its institutions, and every one that failed had something wrong. While there's undoubtedly some truth to this, the authors give very little criteria for determining just what good institutions are, or advice for how they can be fostered. Oftentimes, when economists invade and colonize other disciplines, great things can happen (think education theory); but in this case it's clear to me that two economists (not even economic historians) tried to take on what is really straight-up history, and did a rather terrible job of it. (What on Earth is the story of Pocahontus doing in this book? And the part on the ancient Maya is a joke.) Again, I think there's undoubtedly some truth to the broad *institutionalist* school of development theory. But (one of) the big criticism(s) of the institutionalists is that it's all buzz words, and when things go right credit good institutions, and when things go wrong they blame bad institutions, and they have no concrete understanding of what elements of a nation's institutions matter, or advice for what to do to improve things. A&R do nothing to dispel these criticisms.
Alternative books that cover some of the same ground: If you're interested in development, I recommend "Poor Economics". If you want *big history*, I recommend "Why the West Rules for Now". If you just want cool stories about the colonial period, which is a lot of what A&R spend their 18-hour book on, check out Landes' "The Wealth and Poverty of Nations", strangely not available in audio. I'd like to recommend something on the institutions v. geography, etc. debates that have eaten up development economics, but honestly I don't think there's a good intellectual history out there, and this is definitely not it. I'd say William Easterly ("White Man's Burden") does a little better job at making the thesis relevant, but I'm not a huge fan of him either. And I can't really recommend anyone actually read Jeffrey Sachs. The first chapter in "Poor Economics" goes over things a little.
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- East West
- 2018/10/17
Great book and need multiple reading through
One of the best book I have read . For the narrator , it is “Ching Dynasty” not King Dynasty as you read Qing. I plan to listen at least one more time on this book!
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- Agata
- 2020/07/01
Intelligent informative
loved it, narrated well good examples and some great insights, factual and inspiring a good read!
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- Charlie D.
- 2016/12/15
100 times recommendable...
i live in Argentina, ij one of the extractive economies the authors mention in the book. Thus, I have actually recommended it to my friends a hundred times over.
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- M
- 2014/09/25
Repetitive, but interesting.
As has been said - repetitively - by other reviewers, this is a very repetitive book. And not just thematically. If you removed the words "inclusive", "extractive", "institutions", "glorious revolution of 1688" and ”creative destruction" the book would be about 9 hours shorter. It's still quite interesting (especially when they zoom in on specific histories, like with Botswana, Uzbekistan and Brazil, about which I knew nothing) and I kept going to the end, but the Grand Theory being espoused doesn't seem all that remarkable, unfortunately. (It can be summarised as: If your public institutions are strong enough to stop the gangsters from getting in charge, you're probably going to be okay, if not, you're screwed.) So, not bad, but not brilliant either. (Did I mention it's repetitive?")
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- Judy Corstjens
- 2013/04/29
History made science
Breathtaking sweep across time and geography, flying along on the coat-tails of a theory that is so intuitively acceptable that it almost makes you say 'duh'. A society's institutions, extractive (bad) or inclusive (good) explain the wealth of the society and the health and happiness of the common man (and, if you are really lucky, woman). I hated history at school because it didn't explain: just one damn thing after another. This does, right up to the end where they use their theory to predict the future success of current societies. It explains why 'state building' (e.g. in Afgahanistan) is such a challenge. The UK (a pioneer in modern state building) got properly started on the process in 1215, brought in universal education in about 1890 and gave women the vote in 1928. Mind expanding book.
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- Famiii
- 2016/05/03
Brilliant! Revolutionise politics and economics
Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson may well have done for political economy what Facastaro, Louis Pasteur and others who proposed and proved the germ theory did for medicine.
Before them there was confusion, after their work was accepted medicine made rapid progress in delivering real and effective treatments and winning the battle against disease.
Acemoglu and Robinson's theory of inclusive political institutions as being the key difference between the wealth and poverty of nations not only rings true, but their trip around the world repeating history through the lens of the theory makes a compelling case.
My main criticism is that the authors, like most academics (and politicians) went some way to critique the work of Jarred Diamond, David Lownes and others. My knowledge of the world is that whilst there are often dominant factors, there are seldom exclusive factors in explaining outcomes in complex systems. And whilst the theory is effective at explaining much of the variation in wealth in the modern world (e.g. Why the US is richer than Brazil) it does not explain everything (e.g. Why agriculture was discovered only once in Eurasia but twice and much later in Sub Saharan Africa, or even the difference between Canada and the USA). Just as germs don't cause every type of sickness.
Despite this it is an outstanding book, compelling read and must reading for politicians, economists, charities and others who shape national policy.
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- Petros
- 2015/03/02
Interesting only as a history book
Interesting only as a history book. The assumptions of the writers are in most cases based on an one sided interpretation of historical events and they are missing some very obvious points.
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- julien
- 2013/03/28
unconvincing
the authors repeat the same argument over and over, stretching vast amounts of historical examples to fit it's frame.
The reflexion is weak and unconvincing, thus the authors resort to an aggressive and patronizing rhetoric to dismiss other theories regarding the disparity between nations. They seem particularly threatened by Jared Diamonds Gun, Germ and Steal, and rightly so.
Although they would have us believe that we are responsible for our own misery or prosperity because of the institutions we live by, they then admit that there is no reason for one set of institutions to appear in one place rather than another, their explanation being a parallel between their theory and evolution, small institutional differences brought forward by crisis.
there is no proper causal description, at best a messy pile of historical examples correlated with economic development. Whatever argument worth mentioning could have been said in a few paragraphs
the fact that the authors are so pleased with themselves render the all experience rather unbearable.
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- Anonymous User
- 2019/05/20
Very Compelling Academic Analysis
The scope and depth of the book are immense. The points are made using dozens of different detailed examples from history. It is also an in depth study of corruption. I would strongly recommend this book.
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- toptone
- 2017/06/09
Informative
This is a very informative and well written book. It's long because it incorporates many actual histories and examples to illustrate its points. It is a little dated in parts because time moves on , for example, it holds Brazil up as an example of a society which has transitioned from an extractive to inclusive regime but we know now this is not, in fact, the case. Overall though, it is a good read.
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- DaveW
- 2015/07/21
Thought provoking and lots of interesting history
If you could sum up Why Nations Fail in three words, what would they be?
The core idea is brilliant.
The examples from world history are fascinating.
The discussion of past theories on the subject are thought provoking.
What was one of the most memorable moments of Why Nations Fail?
When in the UK the elites were whigs and Tories, they actually decided to live by the rule 'of' law. This was because of the history in regard of the the fact that the ECW and glorious revolution were revolutions against absolutism, as opposed to just another elite. It was also because of the fact that there were now many more paws in government, so it was harder for the Whigs not to just become another set of elites.
Which character – as performed by Dan Woren – was your favourite?
N/A
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
No
Any additional comments?
It might help if the reader knew the basics of English history.
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- Patrick
- 2013/05/05
Brillianr explanation of the World we see today!
Why Nations Fail is one of the most thought provoking books I've ever listened to.
This book explains in detail the reasons why we see the world as it is today. British, and in particular English creativity and entrepreneurism are at the heart of the story and describes how the actions of those people who wrestled power away from English elite society in the 17th century changed the face of the world for ever.
Well worth a read if you want to know why the USA succeeded to become the most powerful country in the world and didn't end up as just another failed state.
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- Anonymous User
- 2021/01/06
Superb and very balanced
A superb listen and extremely well presented. Recommend to anyone who enjoys non fiction genres.
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- steve
- 2018/08/27
Single minded attempt to prove a point.
So I'm half way through and I'm a bit torn about this book. While I mostly find myself agreeing with the author's premise, the book itself is pretty myopic andas a result, boring. The book can basically be summed up as 'free-market, liberal democracy is the best, it keeps elites in check and creates all the advantages of the West'. That's fine but the author doesn't set out to uncover the evidence for this, how it works, how it developed etc. but seems content to dredge up examples from history. Alternative explanations for broad historical trends are brutally straw-manned or dismissed with shameless fallacies in a totally unnecessary exercise at the start of the book in order to make the author's thesis appear to be the singular grand explanation for everything. On top of all this, the narrator is really boring. For anyone super into this subject I'd recommend Francis Fukuyamas 'Origins of Political order'. It covers the same ground and actually reaches broadly the same conclusions but does it in a much more comprehensive, informative and honest way. The book does contain a lot of good material though. I'm pretty much concentrating on the downsides here, it's probably worth a read maybe as an introduction to this kind of subject, but it shouldn't be mistaken for a history book, it's an agenda driven exercise in support of a particular set of ideas.
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- Roger
- 2015/12/22
The secrets of national success and failure
This is an academic book with a serious treatment of its subject, but the explanations are clear and well presented. The authors use examples from countries around the world and through history to show consistent patterns in success and failure.
The encyclopedic examples bring the book alive. As you follow the developing argument, you also develop political and economic understanding of countries you are familiar with. The authors' predictions about the future of the Chinese economic miracle are particularly challenging.
It's a long audio book, but never tedious. Dan Woren's voice is pleasant, and he sounds like he knows what he is talking about.
If I had bought this on paper, it would probably still be on my bookshelf with a bookmark in chapter 1. As an audio book on my phone, it fits my busy life.
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- Anonymous User
- 2021/01/05
outdated datas and wrong predictions
lovely stories but the datas and wrongly predictions make the book looks like last year newspaper. not so recommended if you want to get something out from the book. unless you just want to see how wrongly the authors were.
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- Mars
- 2020/12/11
compelling theory
Not always an easy read, and the key points at times seem laboured, but this is a compelling theory of the causes of sustainable national prosperity. In my opinion far more convincing than what has been proposed by other authors on the topic, including Diamond, Bernstein and Landes.
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- Anonymous User
- 2019/06/05
one of the most informative books I've encountered
I learnt a lot in this book. I didn't know much about why some countries were more successful than others, but this book makes a very strong case that I don't think I could refute, and I'd love to hear someone try.
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- David Mountain
- 2019/04/10
Great summary and well researched
I really enjoyed this book which looked deep into the root causes of poverty and failure of nations to develop. Well researched and reasoned and its clear that corruption and extractive institutions destroy countries
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- Ahmed Shmela
- 2018/10/12
I wish it continues for more than 15 chapters
Great book, very informative, fabulous theories. I loved listening to it, finished in less than a month.
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- cale
- 2018/09/03
Helped me realise the reality of the world.
A most thorough history on prosperity and how a nations fortunes are shaped for either good or ill. This book will be a cornerstone of my understanding of the world to come for decades.
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- Oli
- 2018/08/02
Outstanding!
Worth every penny if you are interested in geopolitical literature, great case studies and well presented throughout. Performance was also first class! Highly recommended!!
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- Chris Pedder
- 2018/06/16
A good book let down by a poor narrator
Woefully underprepared narrator - utterly mispronounced words such as Eritrea, ancien régime and plenty of others. Not only confusing but destroys the credibility of the book. Narrator’s flat intonation makes this a good bedtime book as well.