Mancur Olson - The Rise and Decline of Nations

Quotation of the Day…

by DON BOUDREAUX on APRIL 25, 2015

… is from page 175 of the late Mancur Olson’s classic 1982 work, The Rise and Decline of Nations (original emphasis):


Another myth that generates a lot of poverty and suffering is that the economic development of the poor countries is, for fundamental economic or extra-institutional reasons, extremely difficult, and requires special promotion, planning, and effort. It is sometimes even argued that a tough dictator or totalitarian repression is required to force the sacrifices needed to bring about economic development. As I see it, in these days it takes an enormous amount of stupid policies or bad or unstable institutions to prevent​ economic development. Unfortunately, growth-retarding regimes, policies, and institutions are the rule rather than the exception….​