Why Nations Fail By Daron Acemoglu And James A. Robinson

Jared Diamond is a world renowned scientist, author, Pulitzer Prize winner, and currently a geography professor at UCLA. Of his six books published, we will be looking at the last chapter of his fourth book, Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. In this book Diamond utilizes the comparative method to find resemblance in past societal collapses with our current society. In the chapter entitled, "The World as Polder: What Does it Mean to Us Today," Diamond points out that there are indeed many parallels between past and present societies and that our modern day society is currently on a path of self destruction , through examples such as globalization and the interdependency of each country.

Developing countries face many issues that developed countries don’t have to worry about. From structural problems within the government, to issues with feeding their citizens these countries struggle with what appears to be basic survival issues. In comparison to developed countries, citizens of developing countries life expectancy is shorter, This doesn’t mean that they lack the resources needed to succeed, a majority of these countries just lack the ability to manage their resources efficiently. Corruption, exploitation and lack of a stable economy prevent these developing countries from transitioning from developing to a developed nation .

Imagine a world where there were no problems, and everyone is happy. Few societies have not even been close to being this perfect. Great societies fail due to weak security systems, poverty, and inequality. The failed societies of Ancient Rome, Africa, and the dystopian novel Divergent by Veronica Roth, are all examples of great societies failing because of these three reasons.

Why is it so difficult for the poorest societies to get to a foothold on the development ladder?

The author is able to draw his audience in emotionally by speaking of such countries, and how it eventually ties in to the United States, stating that “(if) a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich,” (3) concluding the connection between the U.S. and those countries who have a lower living standard.

Ever wondered what it would be like to live in a “perfect” society? Truth is, there are no “perfect” societies due to the many reasons that lead them to fall. So why do societies fall? Many great societies have fallen due to corrupt leaders, scarcity in necessary resources, and sickness. Germany, China, Sierra Leone, and the fictional society of Ember, are all examples of how once great societies fall. All of these societies fell due to corrupt leaders, resource scarcity, and sickness.

It is riveting to believe that three billion people around the world suffer from poverty and with the help of several nations, nothing has been done to prevent further damage, in fact, more damage is caused in the process. The thousands of problems that countries continuously face cannot be resolved by the actions of others who are not responsible for their problems. The only way that a nation can improve is by on its own putting the effort towards fixing their problems, while many people think otherwise. Independent countries are looked down upon when they only think of themselves. Most people's first thought is to think of the possibility of them being in the position of the less fortunate, which leads to them feeling guilty.

First, I will explain the role of empowered institutions and countries in limiting the economic activities of developing countries, impeding on their ability to survive. Afterwards I will explain the obligation people in privileged positions have to improve the lives of those in compromised positions, at a certain degree of self-sacrifices. Finally, I will critically analyze and disprove the counter argument, which attempts to relieve us of the aforementioned duties, by discrediting the roles of institutions and developed countries in the prolongation of impoverishment.

The relationship between the aforementioned factors have had an adverse effect on the ability of international institutions to eradicate the issues of climate change and poverty. States act in their own self-interest and most often they either do not care or cannot see the long term effects of their economic practices. Plunder has been seen to occur most often in poorer

According to William Easterly, the consensus on global development is an axiomatically wrong and ostentatious position. This is not new to Easterly, who spent a number of disenchanted years as a senior advisor at the World Bank. These tumultuous years would certainly help formulate Easterly’s austere perception of technocratic solutions to global poverty. Easterly’s contentious view of technocrats becomes a focused thesis in his book, The Tyranny of Experts. In this book, Easterly argues that poverty is not a “technical problem amenable to technical solutions” (Easterly 6). Instead, poverty is a manifestation of brutish leaders quashing the rights of individuals. While Easterly presents a cogent argument against top down development, the lack

The differences between standards of living in developed and developing nations have been made more evident by the rapid pace of technological innovation. Many world leaders consider the poor circumstances of developing nations to be tragedies that should be solved. Some altruistic organizations such as the World Bank have attempted to improve the conditions in developing nations through deliberate development, in which they would enable an all-encompassing plan aimed at efficiently reducing material suffering. However, in The Tyranny of Experts, Easterly argues that development approaches are flawed because they often emphasize material goods at the detriment of individual rights. Instead, he argues for giving developing nations the freedom to improve themselves by supporting democracy and personal rights. In explaining this idea, he comments on four aspects of the two differing methodologies: blank slate versus learning from history, nations versus individuals, conscious direction versus spontaneous solutions, and authoritarian rule versus free development.

The Bottom Billion by Paul Collier discusses why the poorest countries are failing and then offers some insights and solutions to the problem. He says the four major problems in developing nations are: conflict, natural resources, bad neighbors, and bad governments. The conflicts are usually civil wars which have huge costs and the situation just becomes worse the longer the conflicts drag on. Collier states that countries rich in natural resources are often worse off than countries that are not, he attributes this problem to several different factors. One of the factors is that the resources open the possibility for conflict over the resources. Another factor is that if a country strictly focuses it’s on a specific natural resource then the other resources and industries might get forgotten and lose value. Being landlocked with bad neighbors can also be a large problem because it makes it almost impossible to be a part of world trade, so these landlocked countries have to depend on their neighbors for most of the trade and materials. A bad government can also be very destructive to a country’s economy, if they create unreasonable and restrictive policies. The smaller countries are also at a disadvantage because it is hard for them to get any investors, because the investors would much rather invest in well-known countries like India or China. After Collier stated all the problems he also offered up some possible solutions. He believed that aid agencies should concentrate

Many studies have demonstrated the idea that institutions are the main factor of economic development because empirical evidence points to strong institutions being able to determine large growth of GDP per capita. Although the characteristics of strong institutions can be described as the potential fundamental cause of economic growth, the effects of geography and materials available to different certain regions have a huge hand in properly developing a society economically and allowing for further growth. The resources of the countries heavily depend on the raw materials available to each region and the kinds of animals they are able to domesticate. This is where the argument circulates around in which geography is a large determinant of whether a civilization or society can prosper in a certain area or not.

Lack of development in countries in the so-called `Third World' has many political and economical reasons. Historians explain the inadequacy of developing countries with the early imperialism and the resulting colonization of the South. Exploitation of mineral resources, deforestation, slavery, and the adaptation of foreign policies shaped the picture of today's suffering and struggling civilizations and natural rich continents. The omission of concessions and equal negotiations between dependency and supremacy give rise to the contrast of enormous resources and immense poverty in developing countries is. In the last years the outcry of justice and the emancipation of the Third World became louder throughout developing and industrialized

looking distraught personal profit growing every day, submission and affected are political and economic actors of life of the population who are the lowest layer, the left out or those whose works benefit others and in return receive almost nothing. For example, the Democratic republic of Congo would be a great global wealth by the side of the