The Wealth and Poverty of Nations (1999) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit

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Characters/People edit see section history

• Holland: Add a description of this character.
• Clive
• Adam Smith
• Muhammad Ali
• Muslim
• Weber
• Lopez
• Macaulay
• Gama
• Wendel
• Gerschenkron
• Landes
• Uichi
• John
• Nobunaga
• Adolphe
• Mansa
• Cardoso
• Pizarro
• Edward Said
• Perkin
• Moctezuma

Quotes edit see section history

• “We assume that big business enterprises are rational and that rationality entails awareness. The annals of business make it clear, though, that much decision making is guesswork and improvisation. Otherwise, how do these enterprises manage to dig themselves so deep a hole?”

• “Some things will never happen if one does not try to make them happen.”

• “Just because something is obvious does not mean that people will see it, or that they will sacrifice belief to reality.”

• Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers

• This world is divided roughly into three kinds of nations: those that spend lots of money to keep their weight down; those whose people eat to live; and those whose people don’t know where the next meal is coming from.

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• (All economic [industrial] revolutions have at their core an enhancement of the supply of energy, because this feeds and changes all aspects of human activity.)

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• To begin with, the Chinese lacked range, focus, and above all, curiosity. They went to show themselves, not to see and learn; to bestow their presence, not to stay; to receive obeisance and tribute, not to buy.

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• One final advantage of fragmentation: by decentralizing authority, it made Europe safe from single-stroke conquest.

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• I would put forward a law of social and political relationships, namely, that three factors cannot coexist: (1) a marked disparity of power; (2) private access to the instruments of power; and (3) equality of groups or nations.

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• One other fissure helped: the split between secular and religious. Unlike Islamic societies, where religion was in principle supreme and the ideal government that of the holy men, Christianity, craving imperial tolerance, early made the distinction between God and Caesar. To each his own.

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• Our task (the rich countries), in our own interest as well as theirs, is to help the poor become healthier and wealthier. If we do not, they will seek to take what they cannot make; and if they cannot earn by exporting commodities, they will export people. In short, wealth is an irresistible magnet; and poverty is a potentially raging contaminant: it cannot be segregated, and our peace and prosperity depend in the long run on the well-being of others.

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• Winter, then, in spite of what poets may say about it, is the great friend of humanity: the silent white killer, slayer of insects and parasites, cleanser of pests.

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• Despotisms abounded in Europe, too, but they were mitigated by law, by territorial partition, and within states, by the division of power between the center (the crown) and local seigneurial authority.7 Fragmentation gave rise to competition, and competition favored good care of good subjects. Treat them badly, and they might go elsewhere.

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• The contest for power in European societies (note the plural) also gave rise to the specifically European phenomenon of the semi-autonomous city, organized and known as commune.

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Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Europe
• Great Britain
• Japan
• China
• France
• Indian Ocean
• Spain
• England
• United States
• Africa
• Germany
• Portugal
• Egypt
• Islam
• Italy
• Russia
• Asia
• Atlantic
• Argentina
• London
• Indonesia
• Mexico
• Brazil
• Algeria
• Rome
• Latin America
• Indies
• Netherlands
• Korea
• Paris
• Caribbean
• North America
• Columbus
• Taiwan
• Tokugawa
• Middle East
• Paraguay
• Switzerland
• Belgium
• Venice
• Hong Kong
• Bengal
• East India Company
• Lisbon
• Malaysia
• Scandinavia
• South America

First Sentence edit see section history

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. David S. Landes (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Awards edit see section history

• Samuel Johnson Prize (Finalist, 1999, Shortlist)

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: Add the Library of Congress Classification.
• Dewey: 330.16

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Nonfiction › Social Sciences › Sociology › Class
• Books › Business & Investing › Popular Economics › Policy & Current Events
• Books › Business & Investing › International › Economic Conditions
• Books › Business & Investing › Economics › Theory
• Books › Nonfiction › Current Events › Poverty
• Books › History › Europe › Western
• Books › History › Europe › England
• Books › Business & Investing › Economics › Economic Policy & Development
• Books › Business & Investing › Economics › Development & Growth
• Books › Business & Investing › Economics › Economic History
• Books › Business & Investing › Economics › Economic Conditions

More Books Like This edit see section history

Books That Cite This Book edit see section history