ECONOMIC SUCCESS: FATE OR DESTINY?

The traditional rules-based system of the West, which has yielded peace dividends for many decades, now faces challenges from an emerging new world order. Building upon the themes introduced in Grandjean and Tan's Financial Times Readers' Best 2021 Summer Books, Values at the Core: How Human Values Contribute to the Rise of Nations, this book adopts a fresh perspective, examining historical precedents while charting a course for the future. Through accessible economic and social analyses of 12 nations, it offers insights into potential pathways forward.

Contents:

• Foreword by General The Lord Richards of Herstmonceux GCB CBE DSO
• About the Authors
• Introduction
• Brazil
• Singapore
• Sweden
• Botswana
• India
• Japan
• Nigeria
• United States
• Greece
• China
• Russia
• Oman
• Conclusion
• Endnotes

'This carefully researched book views the history and prospects of twelve extremely different economies through four societal prisms: their work, thrift, trust, and risk-taking characteristics.' - Wilbur Ross US Secretary of Commerce 2017–21 and Author of Risks & Rewards

'A must-read for policymakers, business leaders, and anyone seeking to understand the enduring principles that underpin sustainable economic growth.' - Abdulla bin Adel Fakhro Minister of Industry and Commerce Bahrain, Kingdom of Bahrain

'This anthology, meticulously crafted by Tan Chin Hwee and Thomas Grandjean, offers a profound exploration into the economic trajectories of 12 countries, delving deep into their stories from the perspective of their 'Values at the Core — Hard Work, Thrift, Trust and Risk Taking' ...' - Ryu Peob Min Director General for FTA Negotiations, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Republic of Korea

'If nothing else, the book provides masterly summaries of the economic condition of a comprehensive sampling of countries from a wide spectrum. But it is much more than that; it offers a view of the current state of the world filled with thought-provoking insights.' - George Yeo Former Foreign Minister of Singapore

'By bringing frank and at times provocative observations about cultural values into the traditional economist's analysis of geography, technology, and national policies, this work raises fresh, important questions ...' - Jeff Nankivell President & CEO, Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada

'... a must read for any student of behavioral finance and how it works in the real world.' - Naina Lal Kidwai Former President of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Republic of India

Key Features:

• This book goes deeper and uses more practical approach than in Values at the Core, which set the theoretical framework for the two titles
• This book offers a unique perspective on our understanding of why some nations become richer than others, providing valuable guidance to policymakers around the world. Other theories of developmental economics neglect either values or policies; as such they are incomplete, with countless examples to disprove them. We firmly believe that our conclusions apply to every nation without exception
• By incorporating values into the study of policies, this book also provides other unique insights, such as the importance of hard work in explaining cross-country education performance, the thriftiness of a population in determining whether an economy should focus on exports for its growth, or the level of social trust in explaining the efficiency of tax and redistributive policies