The best books on why countries succeed and why they fail

This is a bestselling book that tackles the most important question in economics: why some countries are rich, and some are poor.

This well-written and convincing book provides a very broad and accessible overview of history of successful and failing societies. It argues that inclusive democratic institutions deliver better economic outcomes than authoritarian ones.

Given that this view is based on recent research in political economy and development economics – including the authors’ own groundbreaking work – this is a must-read for all advocates of liberal democracy who want to have quantitative arguments and historical narratives to stand up to the rise of authoritarianism around the world. 

I teach political economy of development. My job is to explain to the students why some countries are rich and others are poor.

Acemoglu and Robinson is a wonderful and accessible textbook. Students love it – even if they often argue with the book’s interpretations of their own countries’ histories. The debates with students about these issues are what makes my teaching so exciting. 

This is a great textbook as well. But it has two important advantages.

First, it came out 10 years later than Why Nations Fail, therefore covering so much more recent research in this very vibrant field of interdisciplinary work on what drives and what slows down economic development.

Second, while the authors have worked on these issues themselves, they are much less focused on one of the explanations of development and provide a more balanced view of the field.

Very informative read even for those who (like me) have already read a lot on the subject. A treasure of previously unknown stories of development and underdevelopment to discuss with friends and students. 

This is a fascinating in-depth account of several case studies of countries that faced a crisis and had to reinvent themselves: Australia, Chile, Finland, Germany, Indonesia, Japan, and the US (I am not mentioning the exact time points to avoid spoilers).

The author puts together a general framework to evaluate the factors that contribute to successful or failing transformations.

For me, as a Russian, this is a very practical guidebook – how should we rebuild Russia after Putin, how should Russia re-emerge as a peaceful and free country; how can we make sure that Russia will never again be what it is now. The book provides many insights on this but, unfortunately, also suggests that success is not guaranteed.

This book was written almost 20 years ago but became much better known a decade later when Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote the musical Hamilton based on this book.

This musical instantly became a global hit. But even more people watched it in 2020 when – because of COVID – it was being streamed online.

This book tells a story of emergence of the American system of government (a major innovation at that point) through the lens of the biography of one of its founding fathers, its first finance minister, and the most important author of the Federalist Papers Alexander Hamilton.

The reader can clearly see how today’s US owes much of its success to some (obviously, not all!) political and economic institutions created at the time of its establishment. The book (and the musical) also presents the human side of Hamilton which shows that even the great countries can be built by ingenious but fallible individuals. 

As a Russian – and as a scholar of Russian economic and political history – I am always intrigued by Russia’s failure to become a normal European country, free, prosperous, and peaceful.

This fiction book provides many great insights for anyone interested in this particular country. It focuses on the most dramatic and consequential episode of Russian history: the first decades of Soviet Union.

Given the tragic events of this period, fictional are nonfictional accounts of this time are usually too depressing to read. This book, however, finds a very unusual angle of telling this story.

The author does recount the main political developments of the period but manages to do it through the eyes of a (yes, fictional!) narrator who keeps integrity, dignity, and sense of humor.