A Troublesome Inheritance: Genes, Race And Human History - Plot & Excerpts
Since all humans are identical units that respond the same way to incentives, at least in economic theory, then if one country is poor and another rich, the difference cannot have anything to do with the people but must lie in institutions or access to resources. Just supply enough capital and impose business-friendly institutions, and robust economic growth will surely follow. Strong evidence to this effect seemed to be furnished by the Marshall Plan, which helped revive European economies after the Second World War. On the basis of this theory, the West has spent some $2.3 trillion in aid over the past 50 years without managing to improve African living standards. Could something be not quite right with the theory? Might the human units of the world’s economies be less completely fungible than economic theory assumes, with the consequence that variations in their nature, such as their time preference, work ethic and propensity to violence, have some bearing on the economic decisions they make?
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