Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Social sciences

A New World of differences

For richer, for poorer — the countries of the Americas and those of the Caribbean present stark contrasts in fortune. An explanation of those contrasts invokes branching chains of cause and effect.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. United Nations Human Development Report 2005: International Cooperation at a Crossroads: Aid, Trade and Security in an Unequal World (UN Development Programme, New York, 2005).

  2. Acemoglu, D., Johnson, S. & Robinson, J. A. Am. Econ. Rev. 91, 1369–1401 (2001).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Sachs, J. D. The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time (Penguin, New York, 2005).

    Google Scholar 

  4. Mitchell, B. R. International Historical Statistics: The Americas 1750–2000 5th edn (Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2003).

    Google Scholar 

  5. Blum, B. S. Cuadernos de Economia 40, 423–433 (2003).

    Google Scholar 

  6. Limao, N. & Venables, A. J. World Bank Econ. Rev. 15, 451–479 (2001).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Engerman, S. L. & Sokoloff, K. L. in How Latin America Fell Behind: Essays on the Economic Histories of Brazil and Mexico, 1800-1914 (ed. Haber, S.) 260–304 (Stanford Univ. Press, 1997).

    Google Scholar 

  8. Acemoglu, D., Johnson S. & Robinson, J. A. Q. J. Econ. 117, 1231–1294 (2002).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Sachs, J. D. & Warner, A. M. J. Dev. Econ. 59, 43–76 (1999).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Ross, M. L. J. Peace Res. 41, 337–356 (2004).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  11. North, D. C. Understanding the Process of Economic Change (Princeton Univ. Press, 2005).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  12. North, D. C., Summerhill, W. & Weingast, B. R. in Governing for Prosperity (eds de Mesquita, B. B. & Root, H. L.) 17–58 (Yale Univ. Press, 2000).

    Google Scholar 

  13. Smith, P. H. Democracy in Latin America: Change in Comparative Perspective (Oxford Univ. Press, 2005).

    Google Scholar 

  14. World Bank 2005 World Development Indicators (World Bank, Washington DC, 2005).

  15. De Soto, H. The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else (Basic, New York, 2000).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Miller, S., Diamond, J. A New World of differences. Nature 441, 411–412 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/441411a

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/441411a

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing