About the author
Daron Acemoglu is a Turkish-American economist at MIT whose research covers political economy, institutions, growth, labour, inequality, and technology. He received the 2024 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences with Simon Johnson and James A. Robinson.
Why Nations Fail, co-written with Robinson, presents an institutional account of prosperity and poverty. The authors distinguish inclusive systems that distribute opportunity from extractive systems that concentrate power and block threatening change.
Where to start
Start with Why Nations Fail for the broad institutional argument, then read The Narrow Corridor for the balance between state capacity and social power.
