The Wealth and Poverty of Nations: Why Some Are So Rich and Some So Poor Summary and Reviews

The Wealth and Poverty of Nations: Why Some Are So Rich and Some So Poor
by David S. Landes

The Wealth and Poverty of Nations: Why Some Are So Rich and Some So Poor
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Book Summary Information

Author: David S. Landes
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 1999-05-01
ISBN: 0393318885
Number of pages: 658
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Book Reviews of The Wealth and Poverty of Nations: Why Some Are So Rich and Some So Poor

Book Review: Mandarin style conveys robust account of economic disparity
Summary: 5 Stars

The topic of economic disparity attracts more heat than light, with authors often doing less to offer insight than to saddle up hobby-horses reflecting the politics of the day. Landes steers clear of all this, possibly stepping on a few toes in his no-nonsense assertion that material wellbeing is the definitive indicator of social success; and that democratic capitalism on the American model is the benchmark of success by these standards. His mandarin style combines with a robust cast of mind to rebut explicitly (and to my mind tellingly) such tempting notions as global exploitation (our country is poor because yours is rich), or cultural equivalence (our ways are just as good as yours in our own way, could you but recognise it). This is all to the good, as is the general thrust of Landes' book, that we should look to culture for an explanation of the defining feature of the modern world: the technical and economic triumph in the modern era of Western Europe over such apparently promising rivals as China. Such an account points to an explanation (if not necessarily to policy prescriptions) for such troublesome matters as the greater success of East Asian than South Asian catch-up, or the disappointments of the Middle East, post-colonial Latin America and Africa.

Less satisfactory are a few side-swipes early on in the book at "geographical" explanations, where Landes rather lets himself down in his attempt to undermine them with the news that Harvard disbanded its geography school fifty years ago. This is no doubt true but irrelevant to the merit of the arguments. In the event, Landes need not be so sniffy, in that his arguments address the last 5-700 years, whereas the geographers (if I have properly understood the matter) look to the last 40,000. In effect, there is no contradiction, indeed a synthesis seems compelling. See "Guns, Germs and Steel", Jared Diamond, W W Norton, 1997.

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