books: why nations fail

it took me an inordinately long period of time to finish this. not that it wasn't interesting, per say, but there are a total of 15 chapters and the general thrust of the books argument is made within the first two. that's a lot of space for reiteration. at one point i accidentally hit a link to a reference made earlier in the book (kindle version, obviously), which switched me over to that section without me realizing i was re-reading a previously read section. it doesn't help the authors resummarize constantly within and at the end of chapters.

here's the cliff's notes version for anyone who wants to skip out on the full journey: nations are poor because of inclusive political and economic institutions (inclusive, meaning includes everyone). that is, nations that champion pluralism, encourage creative destruction, and embrace innovation will go on to be prosperous nations. the vast majority of the book then goes on to describe historical example after example of how this plays out. as a history buffer it was a pretty good read and to be honest i needed it. i learned a lot. about history. which is in a way learning a lot about the rise and fall of nations. fair enough. however this could have very easily been a much shorter book and not suffered from it.