Kwame Nkrumah was the first leader of independent Ghana. While many social scientists view his unsuccessful economic policies as ignorant and misguided, Acemoglu and Robinson point out that they were actually necessary in order for him to maintain political support and avoid being overthrown. This shows how extractive institutions create incentives for bad policy.
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Kwame Nkrumah Character Timeline in Why Nations Fail
The timeline below shows where the character Kwame Nkrumah appears in Why Nations Fail. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 2: Theories That Don’t Work
...explain very much of global inequality. For instance, economists often blame Ghana’s post-independence troubles on President Kwame Nkrumah ’s ignorant economic policies—like building a mango canning factory in a region where mangos don’t...
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...out of ignorance. They do it because it benefits them and their allies. For example, Kwame Nkrumah ’s successor Kofi Busia imposed strict price controls on agriculture, which hurt farmers but benefitted...
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