Why Nations Fail - The Fall of Venice and Rome

Amazing snippet/teaser for Why Nations Fail (the book). It explains the collapse of Venice and Rome in terms of "creative destruction"; how when society moves from extractive institutions (political totalitarianism and often economic monopoly, which serve to extract wealth in the hands of a few) to inclusive institutions (democratic politics and free market economics, which includes the majority of the population in wealth-growing opportunities), the transition can be interrupted. This is because high innovation that arises from inclusive economics - and the new wealthy that come with innovation - disrupt the pre-existing elite class, who will act desperately to re-establish their power. This might be done with constitutional changes, executions or economic changes (like taxes).

I'd #recommend this to anyone, since it shows us a pattern that might play out during inclusive reform. It suggests that prosperity (under free markets and political institutions) is fragile, and tends to be short-lived if you're not careful about the elite reestablishing their concentrated power.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/6mH4dPiJhbtBzictpe6C0q?si=bS62WbMaTt2IqnYDoRUInQ