Preface: Why Egyptians filled Tahrir Square to bring down Hosni Mubarak and what it means for our understanding of the causes of prosperity and poverty

So close and yet so different : Nogales, Arizona, and Nogales, Sonora, have the same people, culture, and geography. Why is one rich and one poor?

Theories that don't work : poor countries are poor not because of their geographies or cultures, or because their leaders do not know which policies will enrich their citizens

The making of prosperity and poverty : how prosperity and poverty are determined by the incentives created by institutions, and how politics determines what institutions a nation has

Small differences and critical junctures: the weight of history : how institutions change through political conflict and how the past shapes the present

"I've seen the future, and it works" : growth under extractive institutions : what Stalin, King Shyaam, the Neolithic Revolution, and the Maya city-states all had in common and how this explains why China's current economic growth cannot last

Drifting apart : how institutions evolve over time, often slowly drifting apart

The turning point : how a political revolution in 1688 changed institutions in England and led to the Industrial Revolution

Not on our turf : barriers to development : why the politically powerful in many nations opposed the Industrial Revolution

Reversing development : how European colonialism impoverished large parts of the world

The diffusion of prosperity : how some parts of the world took different paths to prosperity from that of Britain

The virtuous circle : how institutions that encourage prosperity create positive feedback loops that prevent the efforts by elites to undermine them

The vicious circle : how institutions that create poverty generate negative feedback loops and endure

Why nations fail today : institutions, institutions, institutions

Breaking the mold : how a few countries changed their economic trajectory by changing their institutions

Understanding prosperity and poverty : how the world could have been different and how understanding this can explain why most attempts to combat poverty have failed