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Quotation of the Day…

… is from page 175 of the late Mancur Olson’s classic 1982 work, The Rise and Decline of Nations (original emphasis):

Another myth that generates a lot of poverty and suffering is that the economic development of the poor countries is, for fundamental economic or extra-institutional reasons, extremely difficult, and requires special promotion, planning, and effort.  It is sometimes even argued that a tough dictator or totalitarian repression is required to force the sacrifices needed to bring about economic development.  As I see it, in these days it takes an enormous amount of stupid policies or bad or unstable institutions to prevent​ economic development.  Unfortunately, growth-retarding regimes, policies, and institutions are the rule rather than the exception….​

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