The Wealth and Poverty of Nations: Why Some Are So Rich and Some So Poor

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The Wealth and Poverty of Nations: Why Some Are So Rich and Some So Poor
David S. Landes | 1900-01-01 00:00:00 | W. W. Norton & Company | 650 | Economics
A towering work of history examining the world's most pressing problem--the growing gulf between rich and poor. For the last six hundred years, the world's wealthiest countries have been mostly European. Late in our century, the balance has begun to shift toward Asia, where countries such as Japan have grown at astounding rates. Why have these dominant nations been blessed, and why are so many others still mired in poverty? The answer lies in this important and timely book, where David Landes, taking his cue from Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations, tells the long, fascinating story of wealth and power throughout the world: the creation of wealth, the paths of winners and losers, the rise and fall of nations. He studies history as a process, attempting to understand how the world's cultures lead to--or retard--economic and military success and material achievement. Countries of the West, Landes asserts, prospered early through the interplay of a vital, open society focused on work and knowledge, which led to increased productivity, the creation of new technologies, and the pursuit of change. Today's new economic winners are following much the same roads to power, while the laggards have somehow failed to duplicate this crucial formula for success. The key to relieving much of the world's poverty lies in understanding the lessons history has to teach us--lessons uniquely imparted in this groundbreaking book.
Professor David S. Landes takes a historic approach to the analysis of the distribution of wealth in this landmark study of world economics. Landes argues that the key to today's disparity between the rich and poor nations of the world stems directly from the industrial revolution, in which some countries made the leap to industrialization and became fabulously rich, while other countries failed to adapt and remained poor. Why some countries were able to industrialize and others weren't has been the subject of much heated debate over the decades; climate, natural resources, and geography have all been put forward as explanations--and are all brushed aside by Landes in favor of his own controversial theory: that the ability to effect an industrial revolution is dependent on certain cultural traits, without which industrialization is impossible to sustain. Landes contrasts the characteristics of successfully industrialized nations--work, thrift, honesty, patience, and tenacity--with those of nonindustrial countries, arguing that until these values are internalized by all nations, the gulf between the rich and poor will continue to grow.
Reviews
Typical neocon apologist garbage. If you think 'Murica was founded as a christian nation, Sarah Palin would make a great President, or the Founding Fathers were not genocidal madmen, this book is for you.



If you want facts, logic, and reason, read something else.
Reviews

This magnificent work is an immense scholarly accomplishment by the author and a source uncommon intellectual rewards for the reader. Its panoramic view of world history provides an upward spiral that opens into a view of the historic, geographical, cultural, religious, and value-driven reasons for the immense disparity in the wealth of nations. Dr. Landes does not allow society's current obsession with political correctness and moral relativism to impede the analysis of the variations among the use of technology, science, economic, and commercial methodology in the well-being of societies as manifested in the incomes, health, education, and quality of life of their peoples. The reader is treated not only to expanded horizons of understanding of the way in which interconnected factors have shaped the course of world history; the reader is treated to a display of the exceptionally comprehensive grasp of many and diverse fields of knowledge that Professor Landes brings to the task: history, economics, geography, religion, technology, science, anthropology, and sociology. This work was a joy to read - a work that lifts the reader to new levels of understanding and perception. A masterful work. Holds the reader's interest at every step of the way.
Reviews
Outstanding explanation of the forces that create the environment for advance or decline. Comprehensive.
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i didn't get teh book yet!!!! how can i follow up on my reservation???? this is the last time i'm ordering a book thorugh amazon.
Reviews
The book is ambitious by the very nature of its topic. I think the analysis is cogent, realistic, and well-written. As with all history books, the author excercises judgment and applies a framework for evaluating societies. If you're left leaning or anti-Western, chances are you will not like this book. It doesn't bend to politically correct orthodoxy. It stands on its own.

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