Why do some countries experience growth, while others don’t? The answer is that countries are not ordered in the same way, or as an economist would say; their institutional arrangements differ, and that leads to different outcomes. This in not just a theoretical point, it is in fact highly empirically observable. In today’s episode we will meet three laurates that made just such observations; Simon Smith Kuznets who are not just famous for two curves, but also for spearheading the creation of essential empirical data, such a national income accounts. Theodore Schultz, an agricultural economist who showed why human capital matters, and finally Douglas North. The first historian to win the price, and a person that teaches us to take time seriously.

References:

Kuznets, S.S. (1971), Price Lecture, [lecture transcript]. Retrieved from:www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/1971/kuznets/lecture/  

Kuznets, S.S. (1971). Banquet speech [Speech transcript]. Retrieved from: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/1971/kuznets/speech/

Schultz, T. (1979), Price Lecture, [lecture transcript]. Retrieved from:www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/1979/schultz/lecture/

Schultz, T. (1979). Banquet speech [Speech transcript] Retrieved from: www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/1979/schultz/speech/

North, D.C. (1993), Price Lecture, [lecture transcript]. Retrieved from:www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/1993/north/lecture/

North, D.C. (1993) Banquet speech [Speech transcript]. Retrieved from:www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/1993/north/speech/   

North D. (1991) Institutions; Journal of Economic Perspectives. Vol. 5, No. 1 (Winter, 1991), pp. 97-112. 

North, D.C. (1993), Interview. Retrieved from: www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/1993/north/interview/