The Ukrainian translation of the book Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty by Turkish-American economist Daron Acemoglu from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and British political scientist James A. Robinson from Harvard University has been presented to the general public in the Ukrainian Institute for the Future on August 11, 2016.
In fact, it was the second time the book was presented; yet it was not a formal presentation, but a 2 hour long discussion.
So, can this book help Ukrainians understand what is to be done to build prosperous Ukraine?
The speakers were eager to share their own views on the book. The first presenter agreed with the concept of inclusive and exclusive institutions developed by Acemoglu and Robinson. The second found the ideas rather useful but not comprehensive enough. The third believed the approach was rather outdated, and lacked understanding of numerous other factors influencing any nation's life. The fourth concentrated on the Ukrainian culture speciality considered in the global context.
We would underline that the book provided numerous examples from all over the world. The cases of the 20th century fall easy to criticism. We believe that the case of opposition of North Korea and South Korea is to be seen as representation of the clash of the interest of their supporters. It is no secret that South Korea has been an authoritarian state itself till the 1980s, so it could not boast of inclusive institutions at all.
At the presentation it was noted that the event also held another purpose - to attract attention to the creation of the Ukrainian Institute for the Future.
We wish luck to any institution as long as it is aimed at developing democracy in Ukraine!
Ukrainian Institute for the Future: https://www.facebook.com/UkrainianIF/
The book presentation event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1023292041103427/
Serhiy Datsiuk presents his view on the book in the article Why Poor Countries Cannot be Rich: http://hvylya.net/analytics/society/sergey-datsyuk-pochemu-bednyie-stranyi-ne-mogut-byit-bogatyimi.html
