The Rise and Decline of Nations: Economic Growth, Stagflation, and Social Rigidities

Customer Reviews

While I'm certainly not going to claim that I understood everything, I think that I did manage to follow the majority of Olson's points. Furthermore, I believe that this owes more to the lucid and well-structured nature of the book than it does to me being blessed with any unusual intelligence.

_The Rise and Decline of Nations_ begins with an explanation of the questions that the book will explore and sets the standards for the consideration of a satisfactory answer. It then works out the logic of the offered argument and breaks that argument down into 9 well-described implications. It then goes on to test and explain that logic and those implications. Olson does a wonderful job of providing adequate support the concepts that he introduces, even to the point of pointing out areas where non-economists might have special trouble or require further information. As a result of all his hard work, the book has the feeling of being exactly as long as it needs to be, and no longer.

I was certainly convinced by his arguments about how special interest groups affect economic growth. I understood why he was unwilling to take it farther into the area of policy, but couldn't help but wonder what the eventual policy implications would be, assuming that his theory is further tested and developed. I also found myself wondering if this argument would work in the same way *within* a corporation and whether it might say something about reorganisation and restructuring exercises.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, and recommend it wholeheartedly.

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