Recommendation

Via Marginal Revolution, a great essay by Brian Caplan [apparently lost in the shuffle around last year's elections] on The Idea Trap.

One of the most important facts about economic growth is that, on average, poor countries do not catch up to rich countries.1 The main reason seems to be that poor countries consistently have bad policies.2 Many of these countries are democracies. But they almost never elect a candidate on the theme "We need to copy the policies of more successful countries like Hong Kong and Singapore, and turn our backs on our failed national political tradition."

It gets better from there.