Why are some countries so rich? Economics Nobel awarded for study of inequality

Why are some countries richer than others? The 2024 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel has been awarded to three researchers who have helped shed light on this fundamental question.

The income gap between the richest and the poorest nations has been widely documented. However, Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson, both from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, and James A. Robinson from the University of Chicago in Illinois, have studied the evidence for why these inequalities persist.

The three economists, who will share the 11 million Swedish Kronor (US $1 million) prize for their findings, researched the impact of European colonization on various countries economies.

via www.nature.com

I haven’t read Acemoglu’s popular book: maybe I’ll try listening to it. It seems to follow the Iron Law of Interestingness: The more interesting the thesis, the less the empirical evidence for it, or against it. Economics usually is more towards the boring end of the spectrum. Sweeping historical theses such as Acemoglu’s et. al are more toward the interesting end. Still, it could be worse. They could have given Herr Doktor Professor Krugman another prize.