Who Prospers: How Cultural Values Shape Economic and Political Success

Why do some nations and ethnic groups prosper while others stagnate? Harrison, a former director of the U.S. Agency for International Development in Guatemala, Haiti, Nicaragua and Costa Rica, finds the answer in a culture's values. In his diagnosis, Brazil's hard-working, family-oriented European and Japanese immigrants spurred that nation's dynamic growth, whereas Mexico's economic disaster and failure to build solid democratic institutions are due to its ``Hispanic value system'' promoting passivity, mistrust of outsiders and an overemphasis on family. The U.S. black underclass's plight, he maintains, is due not primarily to racism but rather to ``a set of values and attitudes, strongly influenced by the slavery experience'' and perpetuated by the ghetto. Featuring success stories such as Japan, Spain, Korea and Taiwan, this study verges on blaming the victim and slights political factors as well as the West's domination and molding of Third World markets and regimes to serve its own needs. Harrison ends with a jeremiad blaming U.S. decline on the erosion of education and the work ethic, TV, a quick-fix mentality and welfare programs. First serial to the National Interest. (July)