The Chronicle Review (4/13/12): WHY NATION'S FAIL

Professors: To order an Examination Copy, go to

tinyurl.com/895m94r

New from

RANDOM HOUSE, INC.

Why Nations Fail answers the questionthat has stumped the experts for

centuries: Why are some nations richand others poor, divided by wealth

and poverty, health and sickness, foodand famine? Economics professors

Daron Acemoglu and James Robinsonconclusively show that it is man-made

political and economic institutionsthat underlie economic success

(or lack of it). Based on fieen years oforiginal research, Why Nations Fail

will change the way students look at—and understand—the world.

“Written with a deep knowledge of economicsand political history, this is perhaps the most

powerful statement made to date that‘institutions matter.’”

—Joel Mokyr, Robert H. Strotz Professor of Arts andSciences and Professor of Economics and History,

Northwestern University

“Imagine [weaving] ideas into a coherenttheoretical framework based on limiting

extraction, promoting creative destruction, andcreating strong political institutions that sharepower and you begin to see the contribution ofthis brilliant and engagingly written book.”

—Scott E. Page, University of Michigan and Santa Fe Institute

WHY NATIONS FAILThe Origins of Power,

Prosperity, and PovertyBy Daron Acemoglu and

James RobinsonCrown | HC | 978-0-307-71921-8 | 544pp.$30.00/$35.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $15.00

DARON ACEMOGLU is the Killian Professor ofEconomics at MIT. In 2005 he received the John BatesClark Medal awarded to economists under forty judgedto have made the most significant contribution toeconomic thought and knowledge.

JAMES A. ROBINSON, a political scientist and aneconomist, is the David Florence Professor ofGovernment at Harvard University. A world-renownedexpert on Latin America and Africa, he has worked inBotswana, Mauritius, Sierra Leone, and South Africa.

“Why Nations Fail is a vital work for these times . . . an eloquent

and powerful statement of the long-run success of

democratic capitalism at a timewhen it is under attack.”

—William Easterly, The Wall Street Journal

Instant New York TimesBestseller