Much empirical research has highlighted the importance of institutions and initial conditions in the transition to a market economy. However, relatively little is still know about how these factors directly affect growth paths. This paper explores how institutional factors and initial conditions...

In the distant future, aliens come to Earth. They find a planet devoid of life. Looking closer, the aliens see that life on Earth was once abundant, but was wiped out by a mass extinction. Curiously, this event was driven not by geological disaster, but by one of the extinct species itself. In...