★★★★★

Best book on development I've read.

The authors walk the very fine line between reductionistic explanations that are too simplistic to be true and unverifiable vagueness. The result is a theory that avoids historical determinism while still making real predictions about how the future of national economies will play out, many of which are contrary to the conventional wisdom.

Drawing from every region of the world and many periods of history, Acemoglu and Robinson argue with excellent detail that economic growth is prevented by concentrations of economic and political power that allow the powerholders to effectively loot the economy, undermining long-term economic growth.

While not exactly optimistic in their assessment of the future of underdeveloped countries, Acemoglu and Robinson helpfully cut away a lot of the false ideas that have long hindered the progress of those nations, leaving a clear, if difficult, path to sustained economic growth and general prosperity.