Why Nations Fail

John Cassidy

A Financial Times Most Anticipated Book of 2025A Publishers Weekly Top 10 Book of 2025A sweeping, dramatic history of capitalism as seen through the eyes of its fiercest critics. Capitalism has long been understood as a driving force behind the biggest political, economic, and social dislocations of our time. But in this sweeping, kaleidoscopic history of the economic system th...

Ian Kumekawa

The rise of globalization and financialization as seen from a barge—one Swedish barge, to be exact, built in 1979What do a barracks for British troops in the Falklands War, a floating jail off the Bronx, and temporary housing for VW factory workers in Germany have in common? The Balder Scapa: a single barge that served all three roles. Though the name would eventually change to...

Faiz Siddiqui

The rise, fall, and revival of the Caesar of Silicon Valley. Elon Musk has cast himself as the savior of humanity, an altruistic force whose fortune is tied to noble pursuits from halting our dependence on fossil fuels to colonizing Mars. Once frequently heralded as a modern-day Edison, Musk has taken up a new place in the public consciousness with his growing desire to disrupt...

Gary Rivlin

A veteran Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist shadows the top thinkers in the field of Artificial Intelligence, introducing the breakthroughs and developments that will change the way we live and work. Artificial Intelligence has been "just around the corner" for decades, continually disappointing those who long believed in its potential. But now, with the emergence and growing u...

Mike Bird

How the world's oldest asset secretly shapes our modern economyIn The Land Trap, Mike Bird—Wall Street editor at The Economist—reveals how this ancient asset still exerts outsize influence over the modern world. From the speculative land grabs of colonial America to China's real estate crisis today, Bird shows how fortunes are built—and destroyed—on the bedrock of land.Tracing ...

David L. Shrier

A clear-eyed guide to the metaverse and how this powerful technology--along with advances in spatial computing, VR, and AR--will impact our economy, our lives, and our world. The metaverse. That term elicits a wide range of ideas and opinions. For many, it represents the next evolutionary phase of the internet--a fully immersive, digital universe where people can interact, work...

Daron Acemoglu / James A. Robinson

Nogales (Arizona) y Nogales (Sonora) tienen la misma población, cultura y situación geográfica. ¿Por qué una es rica y otra pobre? ¿Por qué Botsuana es uno de los países africanos con mayor desarrollo y, en cambio, países vecinos como Zimbabue, Congo o Sierra Leona están sumidos en la más desesperante pobreza? ¿Por qué Corea del Norte es uno de los países más pobres del mundo y...