“The question Lewis set out to answer was why poor countries are poor and rich ones rich. It had been asked before, and answered by looking at the big differences between nations: history and culture, capital markets, labor markets, etc. Lewis’ approach was to look at specific businesses. He made a point not to focus on export industries, like cars in Japan and software in India. Each is only a sliver of that country’s employment. . . . This is a valuable book. . . . Lewis confirms much of the free-market canon, and in a way that the free-marketeers have generally not done and some of them refuse to do. They should read it.”--Bruce Ramsey, <I>Liberty
(Bruce Ramsey
Liberty)
“Bill Lewis’s book aims to distill the lessons from a large body of original research on a question of enormous importance: what determines the performance, especially the productivity performance, of national economies and the industries within them? I was able to participate in much of the research, and I can report that I learned a lot about the sources of productivity in both the manufacturing and service sectors of modern economies. The obvious answers are only part of the story. Readers all around the world will see vital issues in a new light.”<\#209>Robert M. Solow, winner of the 1987 Nobel Prize in Economics
(Robert M. Solow, winner of the 1987 Nobel Prize in Economics)
“One of the central questions of economics concerns why some countries are rich, why other countries are poor, and how poor countries can best be helped to become rich. Among the many authors of books on this subject, Bill Lewis has the big advantage that the governments of many major countries asked him and his colleagues to investigate their economies and to advise them. His comparative perspective, consistent framework, and crystal-clear writing make this book a compelling read. It is also a delightful and surprising read: for instance, you probably never guessed why Japan produces automobiles much more efficiently than it produces milk.”<\#209>Jared Diamond, Professor of Geography at UCLA and author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book <I>Guns, Germs, and Steel
(Jared Diamond, Professor of Geography at UCLA and author of the Pulitzer Prize-w)
“A “bottom up” analysis of productivity (as opposed to the usual macroeconomic approach) that is fascinating, diverse, and complex.”--Richard N. Cooper
(Richard N. Cooper
Foreign Affairs)
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