Why read Pillars of Prosperity?

Book cover of Pillars of Prosperity: The Political Economics of Development Clusters

Book description

"Little else is required to carry a state to the highest degree of opulence from the lowest barbarism, but peace, easy taxes, and a tolerable administration of justice; all the rest being brought about by the natural course of things." So wrote Adam Smith a quarter of a millennium ago.…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Pillars of Prosperity as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Lodewijk Smets

Author

I found this book to be a brilliant analysis of how nations can achieve peace and development, stressing the importance of political institutions.

With mathematical precision, quite literally, the book nicely illustrates the fundamental drivers of development: inclusive political institutions and a shared belief in the common good. The absence of those elements can explain the existence of very different development clusters in fragile states that are troubled by poverty, violence, and weak state capacity.

I feel the book does an excellent job of disentangling deeper causes from symptoms of underdevelopment.

From Lodewijk's list on economic growth and international development.