“ Tradicionalmente, la economía ha ignorado la política, pero la comprensión de la política resulta esencial para explicar la desigualdad del mundo. Daron Acemoğlu
“ Third and most radically, it is not even historically or geographically or culturally predetermined that Europeans should have been the ones colonizing the world. It could have been the Chinese or eve… Daron Acemoğlu
“ The process of political centralization can actually lead to a form of absolutism, as the king and his associates can crush other powerful groups in society. This is indeed one of the reasons why ther… Daron Acemoğlu
“ Of the five hundred who entered the winter, only sixty were alive by March. The situation was so desperate that they resorted to cannibalism. Daron Acemoğlu
“ Inclusive economic institutions that enforce property rights, create a level playing field, and encourage investments in new technologies and skills are more conducive to economic growth than extracti… Daron Acemoğlu
“ Even when bonuses and incentives were effective in changing behavior, they often created other problems. Central planning was just not good at replacing what the great eighteenth-century economist Ada… Daron Acemoğlu
“ Every elite would, all else being equal, like to encourage as much growth as possible in order to have more to extract. Extractive institutions that have achieved at least a minimal degree of politica… Daron Acemoğlu
“ During the critical juncture created by the Industrial Revolution, many nations missed the boat and failed to take advantage of the spread of industry. Either they had absolutist political and extract… Daron Acemoğlu
“ Why does the path of institutional change differ across societies? The answer to this question lies in institutional drift. In the same way that the genes of two isolated populations of organisms will… Daron Acemoğlu
“ No two societies create the same institutions; they will have distinct customs, different systems of property rights, and different ways of dividing a killed animal or loot stolen from another group.… Daron Acemoğlu
“ Kingdom of Kongo when European traders arrived. The long-distance trade that transformed Europe also transformed the Kingdom of Kongo, but again, initial institutional differences mattered. Kongolese… Daron Acemoğlu
“ Just as African societies took aggressive advantage of the economic opportunities presented by the slave trade, they did the same with legitimate commerce. But they did so in a peculiar context, one i… Daron Acemoğlu
“ Inequality in the modern world largely results from the uneven dissemination and adoption of technologies, Daron Acemoğlu
“ First perfected by Cortés in Mexico, it was based on the observation that the best way for the Spanish to subdue opposition was to capture the indigenous leader. This strategy enabled the Spanish to c… Daron Acemoğlu
“ These densely settled civilizations interacted in a perverse way with European colonialism to create a reversal of fortune, making the places that were previously relatively wealthy in the Americas re… Daron Acemoğlu
“ Science of economics should focus on the best use of scarce means to satisfy social ends. Daron Acemoğlu
“ Revolution that overthrew Mubarak will lead to a new set of institutions capable of bringing prosperity Daron Acemoğlu
“ Albeit of a particularly vicious and inefficient type. Countries become failed states not because of their geography or their culture, but because of the legacy of extractive institutions, Daron Acemoğlu
“ We have to understand why the politics of some societies lead to inclusive institutions that foster economic growth, while the politics of the vast majority of societies throughout history has led, an… Daron Acemoğlu
“ Today Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in the world. The income of an average Ethiopian is about one-fortieth that of an average citizen of England. Most people live in rural areas and practic… Daron Acemoğlu
