{"id":527645,"date":"2025-04-23T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-23T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leregardlibre.com\/?p=527645"},"modified":"2025-12-25T10:49:25","modified_gmt":"2025-12-25T09:49:25","slug":"leave-it-to-me-and-ill-make-you-rich","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/leregardlibre.com\/en\/economy\/leave-it-to-me-and-ill-make-you-rich\/","title":{"rendered":"The \u00abbourgeois pact\u00bb has made us rich"},"content":{"rendered":"

Why do some nations grow richer while others stagnate or decline? Two contemporary visions attempt to answer this crucial question. One of them is set out in a book by Deirdre McCloskey and Art Carden, recently published in French.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

You've probably wondered why Switzerland, that small, steep country, is richer than its neighbors. Or how some countries that were rich at the beginning of the 20thth<\/sup> century, such as Argentina, have sunk into crisis to the point of becoming ungovernable. In truth, there is no unequivocal answer to this important question. But several theories attempt to explain these successes and failures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Why Nations Fail<\/em>, Acemoglu and Robinson, recent winners of the Nobel Prize in Economics, argue that it is the presence of pluralistic institutions, sharing economic and political power and promoting competition, that drives prosperity. The authors dismiss the idea that geography or climate play a decisive role. American economist Deirdre McCloskey puts forward another theory in her recent book Leave it to me and I'll make you rich<\/em>, which has just been published in French. More than institutions, it is the evolution of moral principles and a shift towards values such as promotion based on merit, rather than privilege linked to birth status, or the valorization of risk-taking and the importance of the figure of the entrepreneur, as well as private property, that are at the root of the success of nations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deirdre McCloskey and her co-author Art Carden, also an American economist, recount what they call the \u00abGreat Enrichment\u00bb. In the space of eight generations, average incomes have soared and innovation has spread far and wide. Goods that were once luxuries are now readily available at prices our ancestors would refuse to believe. This positive assessment is based on facts. Both authors are realistic optimists. Whether in terms of extreme poverty, life expectancy, literacy or living standards in general, the data show that, contrary to popular belief, the world has improved dramatically in recent centuries. But also - and this is what will no doubt surprise readers even more - in recent decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n