Acemoglu and Robinson’s new book starts with a preoccupation with threats to liberty and ends with a set of paeans to the capable state. In this sense, it is a testament to where public sentiment has been moving during the past generation. In the United States today, more than half of those born in the late twentieth century—the so-called millennials—consider themselves socialists, and more than half of the voting population want to see more state intervention, not less. Thus, it is not surprising that when the authors find the “narrow corridor”—the optimal balance between state and society—it is plastered with portraits of those who have built strong, democratic states that promote economic redistribution while encouraging political compromise. Most, but not all, are Scandinavian.
While we undoubtedly have much to learn from the Scandinavians, it is also important to note, as the authors do throughout their book, that different histories result...