I’m excited about a new book plucked from the pile this morning before I set off on my travels. It’s [amazon_link id=”0691152683″ target=”_blank” ]Pillars of Prosperity: The Political Economics of Development Clusters (The Yrjo Jahnsson Lectures)[/amazon_link] by Tim Besley and Torsten Persson. The three pillars were first set down by Adam Smith: “little else is required to carry a state to the highest degree of opulence from the lowest barbarism but peace, easy taxes and a tolerable administration of justice.” Easy, eh? The question is how to achieve these things. The blurb suggests the argument in this book is that a sense of common interests, ensuring the adequate provision of public goods, is key. More on this when I’ve read it.

[amazon_image id=”0691152683″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]Pillars of Prosperity: The Political Economics of Development Clusters (The Yrjo Jahnsson Lectures)[/amazon_image]