Reading group: Why Nations Fail, chapters 1–3
On the idea: How much does geography determine economic development?
Opening note
We read to chapter 3 this fortnight. Bring one passage you think overreaches and one you think is underrated.
Participants: Dr. Femi Akintola, Amara Moyo, Ouattara Bamadou, Miriam Haas
Evidence on the table
No charts, documents or clips have been cited here yet.
Underrated: the observation that extractive institutions can generate fast growth for a while, because a monopolist can still reallocate labour from farming to factories. It concedes far more to the geography-and-capital story than critics admit.
Overreaches: Nogales. Two halves of one town separated by a border that is itself a product of geography and war. Holding 'everything but institutions' constant is exactly what that case does not do.
Accepted as a limitation of the illustration, not of the thesis — the Korean comparison carries the weight and survives your objection.