A Review of: Mancur Olson (1982) The Rise and Decline of Nations: Economic Growth, Stagflation, and Social Rigidities. Yale University Press

While the use of historical methods to explain the rise and fall of states, empires and kingdoms may not be new as evident in various classical works, Olsson’s adoption of economic and social contests among local groups and how they shape the economic outcomes, policies and indeed resource allocations within a country to explain stagflation and slow growth in countries with long standing democracies and stability is innovative.