The Rise and Decline of Nations: Economic Growth, Stagflation, and Social Rigidities

by Mancur Olson

Overview

The years since World War II have seen rapid shifts in the relative positions of different countries and regions. Leading political economist Mancur Olson offers a new and compelling theory to explain these shifts in fortune and then tests his theory against evidence from many periods of history and many parts of the world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780300157673
Publisher:	Yale University Press
Publication date:	10/01/2008
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Mançur Lloyd Olson Jr. was an American economist and political scientist who taught at the University of Maryland, College Park. Edward L. Glaeser is the Fred and Eleanor Glimp Professor of Economics at Harvard University.

Table of Contents

Introduction to the Veritas Paperback Edition Edward L. Glaeser ix

Preface xix

1 The Questions, and the Standards a Satisfactory Answer Must Meet 1

2 The Logic 17

3 The Implications 36

4 The Developed Democracies Since World War II 75

5 Jurisdictional Integration and Foreign Trade 118

6 Inequality, Discrimination, and Development 146

7 Stagflation, Unemployment, and Business Cycles: An Evolutionary Approach to Macroeconomics 181

Acknowledgments 239

Notes 243

Index 267

Editorial Reviews

A convincing book that could make a big difference in the way we think about modern economic problems.”—Peter Passell, New York Times Book Review

“A canonical account of how economies become less flexible and dynamic as they age. . . . Today, as the U.S. limps from crisis to crisis, amid slow productivity growth, high inequality, and increasing political dysfunction, Olson’s critique feels urgently relevant.”—Walter Frick, Harvard Business Review

“[Crises in housing, clean energy, health care, and transportation] . . . are all interlinked problems, and perhaps the best place to start understanding these challenges is a short book from 1982 by economist Mancur Olson, humbly titled The Rise and Decline of Nations.”—Dylan Matthews, Vox

From the Publisher