7 factors of economically-losing nations:
AKA why the U.S. kicks everybody's ass economically
This article is from 1998, and it's got a lot of food for thought. Interestingly, I can think of at least one country - Saudi Arabia - where all 7 factors hold. Betsy Newmark makes this observation, especially with regards to the subjugation of women. But the remark about the basis of culture being the extended family reminded me of a post from Marginal Revolution on how this hinders economic development, and a link from that post to how economically successful people are dragged down by lazy-ass family members in some cultures.
I find it interesting, because in my own extended family, I've got some really rich relatives and some relatively poor relatives. Sometimes there's a transfer of goods/money, but it's not looked upon as an entitlement, and it doesn't create a drag on the rest of the family... because everybody, pretty much, who can work does work. This is pretty common in America. But then I remember of reading of the mooching relatives of Charles Dickens, and how he had worked himself to the bone to support this huge, do-nothing clan. It was seen as fit that the relatives of a rich man should not have to work, and that they had a claim on his income and wealth in general.
This article is from 1998, and it's got a lot of food for thought. Interestingly, I can think of at least one country - Saudi Arabia - where all 7 factors hold. Betsy Newmark makes this observation, especially with regards to the subjugation of women. But the remark about the basis of culture being the extended family reminded me of a post from Marginal Revolution on how this hinders economic development, and a link from that post to how economically successful people are dragged down by lazy-ass family members in some cultures.
I find it interesting, because in my own extended family, I've got some really rich relatives and some relatively poor relatives. Sometimes there's a transfer of goods/money, but it's not looked upon as an entitlement, and it doesn't create a drag on the rest of the family... because everybody, pretty much, who can work does work. This is pretty common in America. But then I remember of reading of the mooching relatives of Charles Dickens, and how he had worked himself to the bone to support this huge, do-nothing clan. It was seen as fit that the relatives of a rich man should not have to work, and that they had a claim on his income and wealth in general.