1
of
1
Why Nations Fail
The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still
learning, it may not be perfect - your
feedback is welcome!
Summary
Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$6300
Unit price
/
Unavailable
International Supplier
This title is in-stock with overseas suppliers. While it is not available locally, we fly books in weekly from the US and UK to our Auckland warehouse for immediate dispatch.
AVAILABLE WITH SUPPLIER
Ships from our Auckland warehouse within 2-3 weeks
Found a better price? Request a price match
Why Nations Fail
$6300
Unit price
/
Unavailable
Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?
This book is ideal for readers interested in economics, political science, history, and global development. It will appeal to those seeking a comprehensive, scholarly yet accessible explanation of the forces shaping national prosperity and poverty.
Based on 15 years of original research, Acemoglu and Robinson marshal 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.
Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and
still learning, it may not be perfect - your
feedback is welcome!
Description
NEW YORK TIMES AND WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER - From two winners of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, “who have demonstrated the importance of societal institutions for a country’s prosperity”.
“A wildly ambitious work that hopscotches through history and around the world to answer the very big question of why some countries get rich and others don’t.”—The New York Times
FINALIST: Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award - ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Washington Post, Financial Times, The Economist, BusinessWeek, Bloomberg, The Christian Science Monitor, The Plain Dealer
Why are some nations rich and others poor, divided by wealth and poverty, health and sickness, food and famine? Is it culture, the weather, or geography that determines prosperity or poverty? As Why Nations Fail shows, none of these factors is either definitive or destiny.
Drawing on fifteen years of original research, Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson conclusively show that it is our man-made political and economic institutions that underlie economic success (or the lack of it). Korea, to take just one example, is a remarkably homogenous 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 differences between the Koreas is due to the politics that created those two different institutional trajectories.
Acemoglu and Robinson marshal extraordinary historical evidence from the Roman Empire, the Mayan city-states, the Soviet Union, the United States, and Africa to build a new theory of political economy with great relevance for the big questions of today, among them:
- Will China’s economy continue to grow at such a high speed and ultimately overwhelm the West?
- Are America’s best days behind it? Are we creating a vicious cycle that enriches and empowers a small minority?
“This book will change the way people think about the wealth and poverty of nations . . . as ambitious as Jared Diamond’s Guns, Germs, and Steel.”—BusinessWeek
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9780307719225
Publisher: Crown Currency
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 17 September 2013
Imprint: Crown Currency
Illustration: PHOTO INSERTS AND MAPS
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 32.0mm
Width: 131.0mm
Height: 203.0mm
Weight: 391g
Pages: 544
About the Author
Daron Acemoglu is the Killian Professor of Economics at MIT. In 2005 he received the John Bates Clark Medal awarded to economists under forty judged to have made the most significant contribution to economic thought and knowledge. He is also the co-author of The Narrow Corridor: States, Societies, and the Fate of Liberty.
James A. Robinson, a political scientist and an economist, is the David Florence Professor of Government at Harvard University. A world-renowned expert on Latin America and Africa, he has worked in Botswana, Mauritius, Sierra Leone, and South Africa. He is also the co-author of The Narrow Corridor: States, Societies, and the Fate of Liberty.
Also by Daron Acemoglu
View all-
Why Nations Fail
Why are some nations more prosperous than others? Why Nations Fail sets out to answer this question, with a compelling and elegantly argued new theory: that it is not down to climate, geography or culture, but because of institutions. Drawing on an extraordinary range of contemporary and historical examples, from ancient Rome through the Tudors to modern-day China, leading academics...Paperback$3699Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
The Narrow Corridor
The internationally bestselling authors of Why Nations Fail explore how different societies develop, resolve, or fail to resolve, conflicts. Based on decades of research, the authors present a powerful new big-picture framework in The Narrow Corridor. They explain how some countries progress towards and provide liberty, while others descend into despotism, anarchy, or are suffocated by norms. The book reveals...Paperback$2900Elsewhere:$3200Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Power and Progress
WINNERS OF THE 2024 NOBEL PRIZE FOR ECONOMICS LONGLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE LONGLISTED FOR THE FINANCIAL TIMES AND SCHRODERS BUSINESS BOOK OF THE YEAR SHORTLISTED FOR THE LIONEL GELBER PRIZE A FINANCIAL TIMES TECHNOLOGY BOOK OF THE YEAR UPDATED WITH A NEW PREFACE 'The blueprint we need for the challenges ahead' — Shoshana Zuboff 'If you are not...Paperback$2999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Pre-orderWhat Happened to Liberal Democracy?
Shared prosperity, equality, democratic values and the free pursuit of knowledge. Liberalism promised much, and even delivered on some of those promises. But now the remaining relics of establishment liberalism are being eroded by elitism, intolerance and rising autocracy. What went wrong? And what comes next? Liberalism flourished as the underdog in a sea of competing political ideologies. But once...Paperback$3999Unit price /UnavailableOut 11 Aug 2026Pre-order -
Power and Progress
Throughout history, technological change—whether in the form of agricultural improvements in the Middle Ages, the Industrial Revolution, or today's artificial intelligence—has been viewed as a main driver of prosperity, working in the public interest. The reality, though, is that technology is shaped by what powerful people want and believe, generating riches, social respect, cultural prominence, and further political voice for...PaperbackSold Out
Also by James A. Robinson
View all-
Why Nations Fail
Why are some nations more prosperous than others? Why Nations Fail sets out to answer this question, with a compelling and elegantly argued new theory: that it is not down to climate, geography or culture, but because of institutions. Drawing on an extraordinary range of contemporary and historical examples, from ancient Rome through the Tudors to modern-day China, leading academics...Paperback$3699Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
The Narrow Corridor
The internationally bestselling authors of Why Nations Fail explore how different societies develop, resolve, or fail to resolve, conflicts. Based on decades of research, the authors present a powerful new big-picture framework in The Narrow Corridor. They explain how some countries progress towards and provide liberty, while others descend into despotism, anarchy, or are suffocated by norms. The book reveals...Paperback$2900Elsewhere:$3200Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today
More from Education & Reference
View all-
Revenge of the Tipping Point
Twenty-five years after the publication of his groundbreaking first book, Malcolm Gladwell returns with a brand new volume that reframes the lessons of The Tipping Point in a startling and revealing light. What does the heartbreaking fate of the cheetah tell us about the way we raise our children? Why do elite universities care so much about sports? What is...Paperback$2999Elsewhere:$3999Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
The Body Keeps the Score
The Body Keeps the Score by Dr Bessel van der Kolk is a compelling and compassionate exploration of the deep-seated impact of trauma on the human body and mind. This groundbreaking work delves into the complex causes of trauma and paints a vivid picture of the revolutionary treatments that are enabling countless individuals to reclaim their lives filled with purpose...Paperback$2400Elsewhere:$3000Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
New ReleaseThe Age Code
What if the food you eat could rewind your biological clock? 'Clear and compelling' — Chris van Tulleken 'Really interesting and insightful' — Joe Wicks 'Fascinating' — Tim Spector From the rising incidence of cancer in the under-50s to increased infertility rates, there are signs everywhere that growing numbers of us are ageing too quickly. Why? Many believe there’s one...Paperback$2999Elsewhere:$3799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Signed CopyNew Release"What Were You Thinking!?"
Everything parents need to know about their baby, child or teen's developing brain to raise resilient, emotional intelligent kids, by globally renowned neuroscience educator Nathan Wallis. 'What were you thinking!?'If you've ever asked this in despair while watching a toddler melt down, a tween push boundaries or a teenager make a truly terrible decision, this book is for you.In "What Were...Paperback$3299Elsewhere:$3999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
New Release
One Last Question, Prime Minister
From Muldoon to Luxon, untold stories from the House of Parliament Barry Soper has spent close to five decades questioning New Zealand's prime ministers.From the imposing, larger-than-life characters of Rob Muldoon and David Lange, to the golden age of Helen Clark and John Key, and the post-Covid era of Jacinda Ardern and the 'Chrises', Soper's insight and nose for a...Paperback$3199Elsewhere:$3999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
New ReleaseRegime Change
From the two reporters who have covered him more closely than perhaps anyone else over the past decade comes this definitive portrait of Donald Trump in the White House and the first year of his second presidency. Based on hundreds of interviews and unprecedented reporting from deep within the administration’s most closely guarded rooms, Regime Change takes the reader into...Paperback$3299Elsewhere:$4299Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
New Release2027 Witch's Diary - Southern Hemisphere
From the bestselling authors of Spellcasting, which has now sold over 250,000 copies worldwide, comes the essential witchy journal to plan your days, harness magick, and connect with higher powers. Features include: 8" x 6" (8" x 12" open) Beautiful glossy gold gatefold cover Compact size, perfect to carry in your bag and keep on you throughout the day 12-month...Paperback$1999Elsewhere:$2299Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Signed Copy
Go Hard or Go Home
From the front bench to rock bottom: Go Hard or Go Home is Kiri Allan's fearless memoir of ambition, disruption and survival in NZ politics and beyond. Kiri Allan's six-year political career spanned some of the most challenging times in recent history. Events a government might encounter once in a generation stacked up: a terrorist attack, a volcanic eruption, destructive and deadly...Paperback$3199Elsewhere:$4000Unit price /UnavailableOut 4 Aug 2026Pre-order -
Roadmap to Property Success
Ready to ditch the 9-to-5 and build lasting wealth through property? In Roadmap to Property Success, seasoned investor and coach Steve Goodey shares the exact strategies that helped him – and thousands of Kiwis – build sustainable property portfolios from scratch. With real-life lessons, hard-won wisdom, and zero sugar-coating, this is your no-BS guide to property investing in New Zealand....Paperback$3199Elsewhere:$3999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
New ReleaseSuicidal Empathy
The bestselling author of The Parasitic Mind shows why empathy in politics leads to civilizational collapse. What happens when a society elevates victimhood to a virtue and decides that punishment is cruel? You get the disease Dr. Gad Saad calls suicidal empathy. And the West may be terminally infected. In his new book, Suicidal Empathy, Saad unleashes a blistering critique...Paperback$3099Elsewhere:$3799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Man's Search For Meaning
Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl is a profound, thought-provoking memoir and psychological exploration that delves into the harrowing experiences of life in Nazi concentration camps, intertwined with the author’s groundbreaking theories on existential psychology. The book is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit, offering a beacon of hope and a roadmap for finding purpose...Paperback$1800Elsewhere:$2100Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
How Will I Ever Get Through This?
'Dr Lucy's unpacking of the grief that comes with living losses was a lightbulb moment for me.' Ellidy Pullin 'The best work I know on positive psychology and grief is Lucy Hone's.' Martin Seligman 'Lucy's insights are practical, wise, and deeply human - they stay with you long after you read them.' Chelsea Pottenger From bestselling author and TED speaker...Paperback$3299Elsewhere:$3799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today
Why buy from us?
Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!
Service & Delivery
Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.
Auckland Bookstore
We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.
Our Gifting Service
Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.
