James Robinson: The narrow corridor to liberty

Why was Europe the source of the Great Enrichment? Why is China still a dictatorship after opening its economy to the world? And what do the recent successes of South Korea and Taiwan represent? According to today’s guest, James Robinson, these questions are best understood through the following framework: Nations only become free and prosperous when there is a state strong enough to secure liberty and provide public services and a society strong enough to prevent the state from becoming despotic. This necessary competition between state and society opens the “narrow corridor” to liberty. James is the Richard L. Pearson Professor of Global Conflict Studies and University Professor at the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy. He and Daron Acemoglu are the co-authors of 2012’s Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty and their 2019 follow-up, The Narrow Corridor: States, Societies, and the Fate of Liberty. You can also check out the transcript of this podcast here.