Status Updates From Bad Samaritans: The Myth of...

I think my only complaint about this book is the lack of data, which is odd for an economist. Otherwise, it has been a very informative book about why some countries are richer than others. The whole chapter about patents was an eye-opener for me.

"(...) culture changes with economic development. (...) Culture is the result, as well as the cause, of economic development. It would be far more accurate to say that countries become ‘hardworking’ and ‘disciplined’ (and acquire other ‘good’ cultural traits) because of economic development, rather than the the other way around."

"This is ironic, given that one frequent argument against SOEs is that they are rife with corruption. However, the sad fact is that a government that is unable to control or eliminate corruption in its SOEs is not suddenly going to develop the capacity to prevent corruption when it is privatizing them."

"In recommending free trade to developing countries, the Bad Samaritans point out that all the rich countries have free(ish) trade. This is, however, like people advising the parents of a six-year-old boy to make him get a job, arguing that successful adults don’t live off their parents and, therefore, that being independent must be the reason for their successes."