The topic in my latest book, Objective Prosperity, “Why Some Countries are Rich and Why Some Countries Are Poor” just won the Nobel Prize for Economics. Those words are chosen carefully; it was the topic, not my book that won the Nobel Prize. The winners were Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James A. Robinson of MIT and Chicago Booth School of Business for research in their book, Why Nations Fail. Jakob Svensson, chair of the Committee for the Prize in Economic Sciences, said their analysis has provided “a much deeper understanding of the root causes of why countries fail or succeed.”
The Associated Press called it the most important topic in economics, and a clear signal that the causes are different than conclusions from traditional economics. But you already knew that if you read Objective Prosperity by Blackwell and Bailey. You know that behavioral economics provides a richer understanding of why some people live in poverty compared to those who are prosperous. Our book is more recent than Acemoglu et. al. and shows how attributes that make a nation prosperous also make people and organizations prosperous. In other words, we show how the principles that won the Nobel prize also apply to individuals like you.
Roger Bailey and I describe the award winning Acemoglu data on pages 87 and 213 of Objective Prosperity and explain why New Mexico is more prosperous than Mexico, Florida more prosperous than Cuba, and Botswana six times more prosperous than its neighbor, Zimbabwe. One word describes national, corporate and personal prosperity. That word is values. Objective Prosperity shows how people born in the bottom levels of poverty make it to the top levels of prosperity and such practical topics as how to obtain a quality education without parental expense or personal debt. If you know young people who might benefit from understanding those values, you might consider Objective Prosperity as a holiday gift for them (and if you haven’t read Objective Prosperity yet, you might want to read it before gifting!) It is delivered rapidly by Amazon or my website www.rogerblackwellbusiness.com
