Adam Smith and his colleagues proffered them more than two centuries ago. Yet assuming that Smith's complex insights into what creates the wealth of nations are accurate, why have they been embraced and largely implemented by some societies and not others?
As history amply demonstrates, unless a broad majority of a population implicitly or otherwise believes that a competitive free market paradigm advances their welfare, it cannot for long be imposed on them by an authoritarian or even a democratically elected government. 17  Fischer (1993). 18  World Bank (2002)--GDP per capita (constant 1995 dollars). 19  Easterly (2001).