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.
€œ[T]his elegant, readable book. . . sets out to explain why economies succumb to the €˜British disease,€ the kind of stagnation and demoralization that is now sweeping Europe and North America. . . . A convincing book that could make a big difference in the way we think about modern economic problems.€€•Peter Passell, The New York Times Book Review
€œSchumpeter and Keynes would have hailed the insights Olson gives into the sicknesses of the modern mixed economy.€€•Paul A. Samuelson, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
€œOne of the really important books in social science of the past half-century.€€•Scott Gordon, The Canadian Journal of Economics
€œThe thesis of this brilliant book is that the longer a society enjoys political stability, the more likely it is to develop powerful special-interest lobbies that in turn make it less efficient economically.€€•Charles Peters, The Washington Monthly
€œRemarkable. The fundamental ideas are simple, yet they provide insight into a wide array of social and historical issues. . . . The Rise and Decline of Nations promises to be a subject of productive interdisciplinary argument for years to come.€€•Robert O. Keohane, Journal of Economic Literature
€œI urgently recommend it to all economists and to a great many non-economists.€€•Gordon Tullock, Public Choice
€œOlson€s theory is illuminating and there is no doubt that The Rise and Decline of Nations will exert much influence on ideas and politics for many decades to come.€€•Pierre Lemieux, Reason
Co-winner of the 1983 American Political Science Association€s Gladys M. Kammerer Award for the best book on U.S. national policy