In 1960 you could not have told the winners from the losers. Some of the countries that looked richest are now the poorest, and some that looked hopeless are now among the wealthiest on earth. Nothing dramatic did it. The gaps were built out of tiny, almost invisible annual differences — compounded, patiently, for a lifetime. Every case below is one thread of that story.
In 1960, Venezuela was richer than Japan. How small, boring differences quietly become enormous ones.
Botswana’s diamonds, Zambia’s copper — same gift, opposite ending. What decides growth when the luck is equal.
Let me tell you about China — how you can out-grow the world without inventing a single thing.
Where capital actually comes from — and the quiet trade-off every growing country has to make.
The part of growth you can see happening but can’t quite measure — and why economists call it a leftover.