Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order: Why Nations Succeed and Fail

taxes because those who are taxed get angry.

Everything that has happened and everything that will happen has had and will have determinants that make it happen.

very roughly 70 percent through its big cycle. Can it slow or reverse its relative decline? History shows us that reversing a decline is very difficult because it requires undoing so many things that have already been done.

always for the same reasons—because of the quality of people’s education, inventiveness, work ethic, and economic systems to turn ideas into output.

“from shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations.”

the Chinese are excellent at this.

Second, this group of countries excludes what I will call the “boutique countries” (like Switzerland and Singapore) that score very high in wealth and living standards but aren’t large enough to become one of the biggest empires.

the single most reliable leading indicator of civil war or revolution is bankrupt government finances combined with big wealth gaps.

The question is whether we Americans can face our challenges honestly and adapt and change to meet them.