Criticisms of Why Nations Fail
[Estimated time: 14 mins] Table of Contents Slippery definitions Ideological bias towards Western classical liberalism Suspicion of state interference in the economy […]
Author: To Summarise
Book Summary: Why Nations Fail by Acemoglu and Robinson
This summary of Why Nations Fail by Nobel Prize winners Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson explains how institutions are key to understanding […]
Fact-checking an AI optimist article in The Economist
[Estimated time: 6 mins] On 26 January 2026, The Economist published an optimistic article arguing that AI won’t displace white collar jobs. […]
Book Summary: Seeing Like A State by James C Scott
This summary of Seeing Like A State by James C Scott explores how states simplify and standardise complex societies to make them […]
2025 Round-up
[Estimated time: 4 minutes] Here’s the 2025 round-up of my favourite books for the year, as well as an update on the […]
Book Summary: Essentialism by Greg McKeown
Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown was a timely read for me. My commitments had accumulated over time and […]
How Asia Works with causal diagrams
[Estimated time: 5 mins] Some people have pointed out that it’s hard to test the theory of development put forward by Joe […]
Book Summary: How Asia Works by Joe Studwell
In How Asia Works, Joe Studwell sets out the three-part formula that bucked the Washington Consensus and propelled East Asian economies like […]
How AI might cause GDP and well-being to (further) decouple
[Estimated time: 12 mins] This is my third post for this series. It refers to concepts ideas in my previous two posts, […]
GDP has never been a measure of well-being
[Estimated time: 14 mins] When people speculate about the effects of AI on “economic growth”, they often assume economic growth will increase […]