False Economy: A Surprising Economic History Of The World
by Alan Beattie /
2009 / English / PDF
4.1 MB Download
In 2001 Argentina's government bankrupted itself, yet for the past
two hundred years it had enjoyed a vista of economic opportunity
almost identical to that of the US. Why did the US succeed while
Argentina stalled? Botswana and Sierra Leone are both blessed with
abundant diamonds. Why did Botswana become the world's
fastest-growing economy while Sierra Leone suffered a decade of
brutal civil war? The path to prosperity is rarely obvious and the
sources of success are often unexpected. Time and again, world
leaders have failed to learn the lessons of economic history, and
their mistakes continue to have surprising and catastrophic
consequences. In False Economy, Alan Beattie uses extraordinary
stories of economic triumph and disaster to explain how some
countries went wrong while others went right, and why it's so
difficult to change course once you're on the path to ruin. Along
the way, you'll discover why Africa doesn't grow cocaine, why our
asparagus comes from Peru, why your keyboard spells QWERTY and why
giant pandas are living on borrowed time.
In 2001 Argentina's government bankrupted itself, yet for the past
two hundred years it had enjoyed a vista of economic opportunity
almost identical to that of the US. Why did the US succeed while
Argentina stalled? Botswana and Sierra Leone are both blessed with
abundant diamonds. Why did Botswana become the world's
fastest-growing economy while Sierra Leone suffered a decade of
brutal civil war? The path to prosperity is rarely obvious and the
sources of success are often unexpected. Time and again, world
leaders have failed to learn the lessons of economic history, and
their mistakes continue to have surprising and catastrophic
consequences. In False Economy, Alan Beattie uses extraordinary
stories of economic triumph and disaster to explain how some
countries went wrong while others went right, and why it's so
difficult to change course once you're on the path to ruin. Along
the way, you'll discover why Africa doesn't grow cocaine, why our
asparagus comes from Peru, why your keyboard spells QWERTY and why
giant pandas are living on borrowed time.
