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 (which you can counter by building solid political and economic institutions, like constitutions, government watchdogs and economic incentives).

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