In their interesting read "Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty", Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson wonder: “Is it culture, the weather, geography? perhaps ignorance of what the right policies are?” to explain the differences in economic growth across countries. They emphasize the overriding significance of man-made political and economic institutions that underlie economic progress or underdevelopment. They invoke a wide range of instances ranging from Africa, Asia and Europe to build a new and robust theory of Political Economy that addresses the fundamental question of why nations fail and why they succeed. I am not trying to review or summarize their book. I was rather impressed by the dialogue concerning the contents of the book between Jeffery Sachs and the authors. In October, 2012, Jeffrey D. Sachs presented a review of the book
Acemoglu and Robinson reacted to his review with an astonishing vigor. This was followed by Sachs’ additional reaction to the reaction. Since, I am a big fan of open dialogues between economists, especially without the restrictive requirements of an academic journal or another publication, I am sharing it for you-development enthusiasts.
