Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty book club questions

1. 1.

   The authors argue that geography and culture don't explain prosperity, but institutions do. Does that feel right to you? What evidence in your own experience pushes back against it?

2. 2.

   Can you think of a country that has maintained extractive political institutions while building genuinely inclusive economic ones? Does it contradict the argument?

3. 3.

   The Nogales example is the book's most striking. What other border pairs — physical, historical, or political — show similar divergence?

4. 4.

   Acemoglu and Robinson say foreign aid mostly fails because it is absorbed by extractive institutions. If that's right, what should rich countries do instead?

5. 5.

   What was the most recent critical juncture in your country's history? Did it reinforce or weaken inclusive institutions?

6. 6.

   The book says short-run growth under extractive systems is real but unsustainable. Does China fit this model, and how would you know when the stagnation arrives?

7. 7.

   How do you distinguish a country building inclusive institutions from one whose elite is performing inclusion while protecting its position?

8. 8.

   The authors are historians by method. How much confidence do case studies give you in a causal claim of this scope?

9. 9.

   They argue that the Industrial Revolution succeeded in Britain because of prior institutional change. Is that persuasive, or does it explain too much with hindsight?

10. 10.

    What would it take, concretely, to break an entrenched extractive system? The book identifies critical junctures but doesn't fully explain how to create them.

11. 11.

    Is there a risk that the inclusive/extractive framing naturalizes Western political arrangements as the global ideal? How might that distort the analysis?

12. 12.

    Which institution in your own country most resembles an extractive arrangement, and who are the beneficiaries?

How to run the discussion

• Pick six to eight, not all of them. An hour of real discussion covers fewer questions than anyone expects, and racing the list is what makes a book club feel like homework.
• Open with what people noticed, not what they concluded. Asking for a verdict first hardens opinions before anyone has heard each other.
• Let the disagreement run. The questions below that split a room are the ones worth the time; the ones everyone answers the same way can be skipped.
• Ask the quiet person a specific question. A direct, narrow question is far easier to answer than an open invitation to contribute.