Two well-known economists – Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson – have co-authored a book titled “Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity and Poverty”. Daron Acemoglu is an American economist of Turkish origin, he is the “Elizabeth and James Killian Professor of Economics in the Department of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology”. He graduated from the University of York with a BSc in Economics in 1989 and an MSc in Mathematical Economics and Econometrics from the London School of Economics in 1990 and finally his PhD in Economics from the same institution in 1992. It is affiliated with different institutes and associations as well as research centers such as the Center for Economic Policy Research, the European Economic Association, the Institute of Labor Economics and the National Bureau of Economic Research, etc. … As for the second author -James Robinson - He is a “prominent British political scientist and economist and director of the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflict”. James Robinson holds a BSc from the London School of Economics and Political Science, an MSc from the University of Warwick and a PhD from Yale University. Robinson has held many professions: from 2009 to 2011 he was a board member of the Global Development Network, he was also the Wilbur A. Cowett Professor of Government at Harvard University and an associate professor at the Institute from Harvard University for Quantitative Social Sciences and the Weather Center for International Affairs. I believe that Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson are both remarkable, eminent and exceptional economists, which definitely makes them qualified to write such a book. They both have rich education, wonderful career experience, numerous awards and scholarships and they have written pioneering and groundbreaking articles and journal articles on different topics in economics, which made them eligible to address all points important to their book and they certainly have the expertise to analyze and examine political changes and their relationships with political systems and institutions as well as economic growth in various countries. This book was published in 2012 and it is a first edition, this means that it is not obsolete and can be used to evaluate and interpret current problems in the international system today . There is a second edition of the book which was published in 2013, and apart from the cover of the book, everything has remained the same (the chapters and the content in general). Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get Original Essay “Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty” is an insightful and eye-opening book that explains and answers a major question that is why some nations achieve prosperity while d Are others stuck in poverty? Both authors demonstrate throughout the book, using historical examples as well as their deep and rich expertise and mastery of political history and economics, that the answer to this question lies primarily in “man-made political and economic institutions”. By this I mean that geography and culture are not the correct answer to the previous question, as many believe, but rather the development of institutions which have a close and close connection with the successes and collapses of different nations and companies. The authors began with an introduction in which they clarifiedthe impact that elite rule has on the advancement and progress of many societies, and the example they set – that of Egypt – definitively clarified this statement since "Egypt was ruled by a narrow system. elites who have organized society for their own benefit at the expense of the great mass of the people.” This specific example contrasts with how the overthrow of elite positions of power led to prosperity, different political rights and economic opportunities that helped countries like the United States or Britain become today major powers today. After reading the book, I see that it can be divided into four main parts: the first part mainly concerns the main examples, the second part can be called "the refutation of hypotheses", the third part will focus on the role of institutions. and the difference between two major scenarios. For the first part of the book, it can be said that the authors have given two main examples so that the reader can understand their main argument and what they are trying to demonstrate throughout the book. The first example concerns two different stories of the same town called “Nogales”. As for the second example, it is the famous “North Korea versus South Korea”. Both scenarios show that there are two sides of the same coin: the first is prosperous, rich and has a booming economy as well as good education and good infrastructure (this is the case of Nogales, Arizona and South Korea). As for the other side of the coin, this is where people are stuck in poverty, lack development and good standards of living and suffer from economic stagnation (this is the case of Nogales, Sonora and South Korea). North). In the second part, the authors attempted to explain these differences by suggesting three main hypotheses or dominant theories which they later realized were ineffective. The first is the “geographic hypothesis” which states that “the great gap between rich and poor countries is created by geographical differences” and blames harsh climatic conditions and tropical disasters. The second is the “cultural hypothesis” and asserts that there is a close link between prosperity and culture and that this can be defined by the productivity of the population based on their religious, normative and ethical characteristics. As for the third and last, it is the "ignorance hypothesis" which states that "global inequalities exist because we or our leaders do not know how to enrich poor countries", and by this most researchers or economists who claim this hypothesis. argue that if countries had a better economic strategy or framework, they would certainly be able to escape poverty. Each of these theories and assertions was later shown to be erroneous and flawed by both authors. The authors suggest that these differences between North and South Korea and between the two parts of Nogales as well as other parts of the world cannot be analyzed and explained using geography, culture and ignorance. However, they assumed that "institutional differences play a critical role in explaining economic growth across ages." By this they mean that differences between nations and countries around the world are due to different sets of policies and political institutions that create a different kind of economic institutions that are "essential in determining whether a country is poor or prosperous and which economic institutions should be chosen. the country has them.” This last argumentwill lead to the third part which will focus on the role of institutions and the two different scenarios presented by the authors. Acemoglu and Robinson began their argument by presenting a series of historical events and examples and their critical moments that helped "shape the path of economic and political institutions and allowed us to have a more complete theory of the origins differences in poverty and prosperity. . The question we must ask now is: what are the different political and economic institutions that create these differences in the international system? To answer this question, the authors argue that there is a symbiotic relationship between political and economic institutions. In addition to this, they suggested two major scenarios – types of institutions – which help the reader understand what led to divergent development paths of nations. The first scenario is the “virtuous circle of prosperity” which includes “inclusive” political and economic institutions – we can cite the United States and the United Kingdom as an example here. This virtuous circle is based on major mechanisms. The first is pluralistic political institutions, which make it difficult for a major figure to usurp power, meaning that the expansion of democracies and the reduction of dictatorships will be encouraged. The second is inclusive political institutions that encourage the diffusion of inclusive economic institutions that “enforce property rights, create a level playing field, and encourage investment in new technologies and skills more conducive to economic growth.” The second scenario is the “vicious circle” which includes “extractive” political and economic institutions. This case scenario can explain the first two examples from North Korea and Nogales, Sonora. This vicious circle is based on major characteristics. On the one hand, we have extractive political institutions "which concentrate power in the hands of a few, who will then have incentives to maintain and develop extractive economic institutions for their own benefit and to use the resources they obtain to consolidate their hold on political power. . On the other hand, these “extractive” institutions create unlimited power and enormous income inequality that directly raise the potential stakes of the political game. To summarize this analysis of vicious and virtuous circles, we can say that whenever we have inclusive institutions, positive feedback loops will be created that will help these institutions become more persistent. However, when we have extractive institutions, negative feedback loops will always block and prevent progress. Another major point that needs to be discussed and which occupies four major chapters of the book -chapters 7, 8, 9 and 10- is the industrial revolution and its impact on economic growth. The English Revolution or what can be called the Industrial Revolution of the English economy played a major role in the birth of creative destruction which encouraged commerce as well as in the economic openness and success which led to the prosperity. This industrialization reached different parts of the world like the United States and Australia, which today are considered a major power. On the other hand, the authors mention the opposition of the Ottoman Empire and other absolutist regimes to this industrialization, which explains the literacy, lack of development and economic stagnation from which these regimes suffered at that time due to their opposition. I believe this book.