Does wealth entirely depend on inclusive institutions and pluralist politics? A review of Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson, Why nations fail

The authors of the book reviewed here need no introducing. They are
amongst the most-frequently cited scholars in the social sciences. They
wrote many highly influential articles, as a rule together with Simon Johnson,
and already published a book together in 2006. Their book needs
no further praise; it opens with jacket quotes of praise by no fewer
than five Nobel-prize winners in economics, and by amongst others
Jared Dia- mond, Niall Ferguson, Francis Fukuyama, Joel Mokyr, Dani
Rodrik and Ian Morris. It would not make much sense to add my humble
eulogy to such distinguished recommendation. I will therefore mainly
confine myself to critical comments. Not because one can only criticize
the book, although I am less impressed than the ‘reviewers’ I just
referred to, but because amidst all that praise some critical counterpoise
from an economic histo- rian can do no harm.