cover image CULTURE AND PROSPERITY: The Truth About Markets—Why Some Nations Are Rich but Most Remain Poor

CULTURE AND PROSPERITY: The Truth About Markets—Why Some Nations Are Rich but Most Remain Poor

John A. Kay, J. A. Kay, . . Harper Business, $25.95 (432pp) ISBN 978-0-06-058705-5

Kay, an Oxford economist with a regular column in the Financial Times , tries to follow up on the success of Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel , but falls short of the mark (not to mention being perhaps a few years too late). The historical examples used to illustrate basic economic principles lack pizzazz, and hypotheticals meant to reflect contemporary individuals are equally stiff. Kay largely forgoes cultural analysis in order to meticulously define the most fundamental rules of market economies in the sort of dry academic prose that spends as much time announcing the contents of upcoming chapters as it does on dealing with the subject at hand. Eventually, Kay comes around to the suggestion that markets are successful when they are buttressed by strong institutions working together in "disciplined pluralism," but he never quite explains why some cultures are able to achieve and sustain such conditions while others aren't. He also points out that these ideal economic conditions are at some variance with the "American business model" of self-interested players operating with little government interference or taxation, but this is neither a new nor original observation. Though closing chapters do make a compelling argument for the supremacy of microeconomic analysis over sweeping macroeconomic theories, that simply isn't enough to propel the book ahead of better competitors with a long head start. (June)