Book Review: Why Nations Fail - WSJ.com

Book Review: Why Nations Fail - WSJ.com: Just as inclusive institutions feed on each other, so do their opposites: Extractive political institutions support the economic institutions that protect the interests of the elite against new entry from competitors. The wealth of the elite so created can make the hierarchical, authoritarian state even larger and more repressive, increasing elite wealth even more. This vicious cycle means that bad history persists into bad present outcomes. Messrs. Acemoglu and Robinson cite the political and economic lag of Eastern Europe and Russia when compared with Western Europe's progress since the Industrial Revolution. The difference, the authors say, can be attributed to the East's reliance on serfdom deep into the 19th century, long after workers in the West had won many rights.