Synopsis
An argument that social trust, more than law or markets alone, shapes economic prosperity and the character of a society's institutions.
Core passage idea
Paraphrase · Modern copyrighted workProsperity depends heavily on a society's reservoir of trust, which determines whether cooperation extends beyond family to strangers and large organizations.
It treats culture and trust as economic variables, explaining why otherwise similar economies develop very different institutions.
To avoid a bubble
Pair with Robert Putnam, Bowling Alone.
Reading note
Read it as comparative cultural-economic analysis; weigh its national generalizations as broad tendencies, not laws.
Best paired with
Robert Putnam, Bowling Alone