Nathan Nunn Interview with Tyler Cowen

Link: Nathan Nunn on the Paths to Development with Tyler Cowen

• One point raised in the interview is the negative relationship between distance to the equator and national prosperity. This reminded me of some of the literature outlining the effect of temperature on productivity: take this study which states that “higher temperatures substantially reduce economic growth in poor countries. Second, higher temperatures appear to reduce growth rates, not just the level of output. Third, higher temperatures have wide-ranging effects, reducing agricultural output, industrial output, and political stability.”

  Here are some good quotes from the interview:

  • Quote: 1 Jeffrey Sachs has been famous, or at least when I was in grad school had famously said things like, “Africans live in strange places. They live away from rivers. They tend to live away from the coast. They live in more mountainous regions which are less fertile. Why would that be?”

    My guess, and from the data I’ve looked at, is you will see persistent patterns in where people live within Africa that is explained by those geographic features and the slave trade. They moved away from the coast where there was a slave trade. They moved away from rivers. They moved to mountains for protection.

  • Quote 2: On the Christian origins of individualism: [Joe Heinrich] talks about the breakdown of clans, which I think is important, and the breakdown of the extended family unit, the Church disallowing polygamy, the Church disallowing cousin marriage. All these things helped to maintain these lineage structures. That led to individuals being important. And that really is the definition of individualistic culture versus collectivist culture.