Acemoglu om fremtiden

Daron Acemoglu spår i dette essayet om hvordan fremtiden, politisk og økonomisk, vil bli: institutional developments, caused by and causing the rights revolution, are the main drivers of the technological and economic changes we have experienced over the last century. Technological progress takes place and spreads most naturally under a specific type of economic institution, which we have called inclusive

Publisert: 23. april 2012

Den tyrkisk-amerikanske økonomen Daron Acemoglu, som nylig kom med boken Why Nations Fail, spår i essayet «The World Our Grandchildren Will Inherit» om hvordan fremtiden, politisk og økonomisk, vil bli:

«institutional developments, caused by and causing the rights revolution, are the main drivers of the technological and economic changes we have experienced over the last century. Technological progress takes place and spreads most naturally under a specific type of economic institution, which we have called inclusive: institutions that provide incentives and opportunities for innovation and economic activity for a broad cross-section of society. These incentives are based on secure property rights for innovators, businesses, and workers, while opportunities are undergirded by a level playing field, in the form of a lack of entry barriers into businesses and occupations, and basic public services and infrastructure that enable a large portion of the population to participate in economic activity. Inclusive economic institutions are supported by inclusive political institutions, which are defined by two characteristics: first, a pluralistic, broad-based distribution of political power, so that no single individual or group can exercise power and rule without constraints and in an arbitrary fashion; and second, sufficient state centralization, so that there is a sort of monopoly of violence in the hands of the state — rather than warlords, strongmen, or bandits — upon which order and security over the territories making up a nation can be grounded.

Standing in direct contrast to inclusive institutions are extractive institutions. Extractive economic institutions are characterized by insecure property rights for the majority, coercion, and lack of freedom directed at extracting resources from the majority for the benefit of a narrow elite; a playing field tilted to favor the elite often thanks to entry barriers into businesses and occupations; and a general lack of opportunities and public services for most. These economic institutions are kept in place by extractive political institutions, concentrating power in the hands of narrow interests or groups without any meaningful checks or constraints on the exercise of this power.»

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