The Wealth and Poverty of Nations

By David S Landes

A book that tackles the thorny questions "Why did the western world, and its practices, come to dominate the world economy." The book goes through the analysis and narrative of many economies to glean what when right and what went wrong. 

The question is not easily answered and would have different answers depending on which century you asked it in. The relevant question three hundred years ago may have been Why did Spain and Portugal..." The question in the next century may be "Why did China..."

Quotes to remember...

"Three factors cannot coexist (1) a marked disparity of power; (2) private access to the instruments of power; and (3) equality of groups or nations. Where one group is strong enough to push another around and stands to gain by it, it will do so. Even if the sate would abstain from aggression, companies and individuals will not wait for permission. Rather they will act in their own interest, dragging others along, including the state."

"but what mattered in the long run (never forget the long run) were those small low-risk gains that add up and do not disappoint."

"I am skeptical, however, of this effort to conflate personal confusion with larger causation."

"No one likes to be told (reminded) that his failures are due to his failings; or that his sources of pride are vices rather than virtues."

"Don't do as I did; do as I can afford to do now. The advice does not always sit well."

"One cannot always discern the boundaries between curiosity, exploration and outright spying. A leading student of the subject writes that "many foreigners... gathered useful intelligence without ever doing anything underhand.:

"Injustice perceived is injustice felt. Men are not moved by bread alone."

"The problem with such rationality is that today's good sense may be tomorrow's mistake. Development is long; logic, short. The economic theory is static, based on conditions of the day. The process is dynamic, building on today's absence to tomorrow's abundance."

On giving large loans to developing countries...

"Cynic may say that dependency doctrines have been Latin America's most successful exports. Meanwhile they are bad for effort and moral, By fostering a morbid propensity to find fault with everyone but oneself, they promote economic impotence. Even if they were true, it would be better to stow them.."

"violence is the quintessential, testosterone expression of mail entitlement."

"British management saw bonus systems as a way of economizing on management. Never underestimate the leisure preference of bosses, any more than of workers."