Is There a Cultural Element in East Asia?

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Whatis really very exceptional about east asia are the traditions of state capacity that go back to the chin dynastyin china. Confucius teaching, as has been adopted by the successive chinese dynasties, important part of it. And you have the sort of more meritocratic organization of the bureaucracy for example. But what you want to think about there is not a simply cultural thing. It does certainly survive in the forms of culture, but its institutional underpinnings are very important as well.

What determines the economic, social, and political trajectories of nations? Why were settlers in colonies like Jamestown and Australia able to escape the extractive systems desired by their British masters, while colonial subjects in Barbados and Jamaica were not? In his latest book, Daron Acemoglu elevates the power of institutions over theories centering on human capital, culture, or geography. Institutions help strike the balance of power in the constant struggle between state and society, creating a ‘narrow corridor’ through which liberty and prosperity is achieved.

Daron joined Tyler for a conversation about drivers of economic growth, the economic causes and effects of democratization, how Germanic tribes introduced “bottom-up politics” to the Roman empire, the institutional reasons that China’s state capacity and control has increased with its wealth, his predictions for the future of liberty in his birth country of Turkey, the biggest challenges currently facing the Middle East, what we can learn from the example of Lagos, why publishing in the “top five” is overrated, tips on motivating graduate students, and more.

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Recorded October 25th, 2019 Other ways to connect

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