Barriers To Riches

Why isn't the whole world as rich as the United States? Conventional views holds that differences in the share of output invested by countries account for this disparity. Not so, say Stephen Parente and Edward Prescott. In Barriers to Riches, Parente and Prescott argue that differences in Total Factor Productivity (TFP) explain this phenomenon. These differences exist because some countries erect barriers to the efficient use of readily available technology. The purpose of these barriers is to protect industry insiders with vested interests in current production processes from outside competition. Were this protection stopped, rapid TFP growth would follow in the poor countries, and the whole world would soon be rich. Barriers to Riches reflects a decade of research by the authors on this question. Like other books on the subject, it makes use of historical examples and industry studies to illuminate potential explanations for income differences. Unlike these other books, however, it uses aggregate data and general equilibrium models to evaluate the plausibility of alternative explanations. The result of this approach is the most complete and coherent treatment of the subject to date.

Becoming rich or, better yet, wealthy requires a certain mind-set. Becoming wealthy is fairly straight forward-theoretically. In practice, there are hurdles that most of us don't even see. These are the barriers to entry that allow many in society to claim that opportunity exists for all of us-but in reality are closed to most of us. The first thing in overcoming these barriers is to be able to learn how to see the barriers. Once you learn to see, you will be able to overcome. This book sets out in short stories and narratives the secrets to developing the mind-set of the wealthy. It will provide you with the tried and tested truths behind accumulating riches and wealth.

When I was a little boy, I allowed my thoughts to carry me away from the extreme poverty in which I lived to a place where I knew things would be better. My seven sisters and I were orphaned and left on the streets of Detroit. We were determined to stay together at any cost! The price we paid was extreme poverty for many years. We were constantly on the run, living wherever we could find a place to sleep. Although the times were hard, we made it. I went into business for myself selling candy at the age of eight, and we soon had enough money to buy a house. It was in an inner-city neighborhood, but it was home. I worked hard and had little time to play. It was during those lean times that I made up my mind to do something great with my life. I decided someday to become wealthy and help others do the same. In my early years, I always had a job and several businesses. Even at lunchtime during school I would sneak away and cut a customer's lawn or sweep out a basement. I learned how to make a dollar at a very young age, but I didn't learn how to manage it for many years. I would become wealthy and then lose it all.

Total factor productivity (TFP) differs greatly across countries. In this paper, I provide a novel rationalization for these differences. I consider two environments, one in which enforcement is full and the other in which enforcement is limited. In both settings, manufactured goods can be produced using a high-TFP technology or a low-TFP technology; there is a fixed cost associated with adoption of the former. I suppose that the fixed cost is sufficiently small that adoption takes place in a symmetric Pareto optimum in the limited-enforcement setting. Under this condition, I prove two results. First, adoption takes place in all Pareto optima in the full-enforcement setting. Second, adoption may not take place in a Pareto optimum in the limited-enforcement setting, if the division of social surplus is sufficiently unequal. I conclude that limited enforcement and high inequality interact to create particularly strong barriers to riches (in the language of Parente and Prescott (1999, 2000).

A vivid character-driven narrative, fused with important new economic and political reporting and research, that busts the myths about middle class decline and points the way to its revival. For over a decade, Jim Tankersley has been on a journey to understand what the hell happened to the world's greatest middle-class success story -- the post-World-War-II boom that faded into decades of stagnation and frustration for American workers. In The Riches of This Land, Tankersley fuses the story of forgotten Americans-- struggling women and men who he met on his journey into the travails of the middle class-- with important new economic and political research, providing fresh understanding how to create a more widespread prosperity. He begins by unraveling the real mystery of the American economy since the 1970s - not where did the jobs go, but why haven't new and better ones been created to replace them. His analysis begins with the revelation that women and minorities played a far more crucial role in building the post-war middle class than today's politicians typically acknowledge, and policies that have done nothing to address the structural shifts of the American economy have enabled a privileged few to capture nearly all the benefits of America's growing prosperity. Meanwhile, the "angry white men of Ohio" have been sold by Trump and his ilk a theory of the economy that is dangerously backward, one that pits them against immigrants, minorities, and women who should be their allies. At the culmination of his journey, Tankersley lays out specific policy prescriptions and social undertakings that can begin moving the needle in the effort to make new and better jobs appear. By fostering an economy that opens new pathways for all workers to reach their full potential -- men and women, immigrant or native-born, regardless of race -- America can once again restore the upward flow of talent that can power growth and prosperity.

The original guide to creating wealth! With this seminal book, Wallace Wattles popularized the Law of Attraction, the powerful concept that inspired The Secret. The Science of Getting Rich explains how to attract wealth, overcome emotional barriers, and apply foolproof methods to bring financial success into your life. This special 100-year edition contains the complete, original text, along with never-before published biographical information on Wattles, and a foreword by Catherine Ponder, the doyenne of modern prosperity writers. It also features an introduction from personal development authority Tom Butler-Bowdon, plus another Wattles classic, The Science of Being Great.

This book seeks to explain the political and religious factors leading to the economic reversal of fortunes between Europe and the Middle East.