Illustration: Binay Sinha
This year’s Economics Nobel Prize went to three academics who specialize in asking a very simple question: what makes countries rich? The motivation with which Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James A Robinson began their research was simple: why were some countries rich in the Middle Ages but poor today, while other countries that were poor have become rich? Was there something causal or mechanistic underlying this ‘great turnaround’? Their answer was deceptively simple: “Institutions,” our editor-in-chief notes. Read here
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Quote
“This year’s laureates in economics – Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James Robinson – have demonstrated the importance of social institutions for a country’s prosperity. Societies with poor rule of law and institutions that exploit the population do not generate growth or change for the better.”
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
First publication: October 15, 2024 | 6:30 am IST