The Wealth and Poverty of Nations

Why Some Are So Rich and Some So Poor

| 4.13 | 3,512 ratings and reviews

Recommended by Charles T. Munger, Charlie Munger, Diane Coyle, and 7 others. See all reviews

Ranked #7 in Economic History, Ranked #18 in Development Economics — see more rankings.

David S. Landes tells the long, fascinating story of wealth and power throughout the world: the creation of wealth, the paths of winners and losers, the rise and fall of nations. He studies history as a process, attempting to understand how the world's cultures lead to - or retard - economic and military success and material achievement. Countries of the West, Landes asserts, prospered early through the interplay of a vital, open society focused on work and knowledge, which led to increased productivity, the creation of new technologies, and the pursuit of change. Europe's key advantage lay... more
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Reviews and Recommendations

We've comprehensively compiled reviews of The Wealth and Poverty of Nations from the world's leading experts.

Charlie Munger Vice Chairman/Berkshire HathawayRecommends this book

Charles T. Munger Vice Chairman/Berkshire HathawayRecommends this book

Diane Coyle The Wealth And Poverty of Nations is one of several really fantastic economic history books of recent times. (Source)

Stephen D King Another huge historical sweep on economic development and, perhaps controversially, this time more a view of why the West has been particularly successful and other countries have not. (Source)

Sean Turnell It’s the most erudite examination of what causes economic development and growth that’s been written in many decades. (Source)

Nick Harkaway Landes argues, for example, that the most significant invention of the last 800 years was the mechanical clock, because until you…can reliably subdivide time, you can’t have capitalism (Source)

John Kay He provides an explanation for why Western Europe was the cradle for modern economic growth and looks at the development of the institutions that made modern economic development possible. (Source)

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