Introduction: the art of engineering prosperity in unlikely places -- The tyranny of litanies -- Unpleasant truths about institutional and financial development -- The economics of chance: policy prescriptions as laundry lists -- The mechanics of failure and the secrets of success -- Ambitious...

Ideological debates on the role of government in development have focused on two contrasting prescriptions: one calling for large scale government interventions to solve problems of massive market failures, the other for the unfettering of markets, with the dynamic forces of capitalism naturally...

How poor countries can ignite economic growth without waiting for global action or the creation of ideal local conditionsContrary to conventional wisdom, countries that ignite a process of rapid economic growth almost always do so while lacking what experts say are the essential preconditions...