CSES Lecture Series: Why Nations Fail by James Robinson

Modern economic growth rests on innovation; that is widely accepted. But innovation is usually seen as proportional to effort, investment, and levels of accumulated knowledge technological prowess. These are positive forces; but innovation also requires overcoming the negative forces of established authority, intellectual 'sunk costs,' and the vested interests who benefit from maintaining status quo beliefs. Only Western civilization was successful in overcoming these negative forces. This was not due to any exceptional flexibility or vibrancy in Western culture. Quite the reverse, it was due to the exceptional rigidity and closure of Western intellectual culture prior to 1500, and the impact of discoveries on that rigid system which broke it open and led to new world views.

Center for the Study of Economy and Society, Cornell University: http://www.economyandsociety.org/

James Robinson, Harvard University:
http://scholar.harvard.edu/jrobinson

Why Nations Fail:
http://whynationsfail.com/

Видео CSES Lecture Series: Why Nations Fail by James Robinson канала Cornell CSES