Let me bring a different perspective to today’s #NaijaKnowledgeX. After a long hiatus, I will do a thread that will tell you what I think about an issue first, before inviting you to comment and share your own knowledge. Today, the topic is “Why Nations Succeed.” Thread...
Many academics, including Acemoglu and Robinson, have written about ‘Why Nations Fail.” They generally theorise that countries that are unsuccessful are successful because of their history and the choices they have made in the last and continue to make.
Essentially, if you choose to embezzle your electricity infrastructure money, you shouldn’t be surprised that you don’t have light. If you don’t respect contracts and have policy somersaults all the time, don’t be surprised that investors haven’t been coming. Simple really.
Should you be a slave to your history though? Is there anything you can do about it? After all, even successful countries have, at some point, made the same mistakes that unsuccessful ones are making. Unsuccessful ones should just change their ways and do the right things, right?
If only it was that easy, everybody would just do it. But they are not. Why? Anyway, I have thought deeply about whether there is a short cut that you can take, despite your history, and jump from being an unsuccessful nation to being a successful one in a relatively short time.
My theory is ‘Productive Capacity.’ If you can produce more, particularly the kind of production that will bring you tons of foreign currency, all your sins of the past would be forgiven. Whether its commodities, manufacturing or services, rich nations simply produce more.
So, I argue that if there’s a silver bullet, it is increased productivity. I am giving a lecture at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, next week. Please help me prepare. Do you agree with my hypothesis? If so, how can we be more productive as a nation?
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
