Why are there rich countries and poor countries? This question cannot be answered in a few words or in a single way. The Economics cannot answer it from the present, but needs to take a look at history to shed light on this question.

Romain Wacziarg, professor of Economics at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), focused on these issues in his lecture 'Historical Barriers to the Wealth of Nations', based on his research at UCLA. The discussion paper was part of the 8th NCID Research Workshop, organized by the Navarra Center for International Development (NCID) of the high school of Culture and Society of the University of Navarra and the Ramón Areces Foundation, whose headquarters hosted the event on April 4 and 5, 2019.

According to Wacziarg, in history there are reasons why some countries develop more than others. He affirmed that, in order to look for them, the first thing to do is to know how far to pull the thread of time. In his opinion, it is necessary to go beyond phenomena such as the Industrial Revolution in England or the colonization of America and Africa by European powers. For him, there are factors of the current development of countries that can be explained, even from the first migrations and technological advances of human beings.

Learning from the experience of other nations

"Even with all the history since the first year of the modern era, you can't explain why there are rich countries and poor countries," he said. There are different factors that unite or separate countries and create what Wacziarg calls "cultural distance" - mainly geographical, linguistic and genetic factors.

He argued that sharing culture imbues countries that have historically been related with positive values, helping them to develop in a similar way. However, cultural closeness also has a negative effect as wars and violence flare up between members of the same community and culture. "People fight more with each other than with people from distant cultures," Wacziarg stated.

Nevertheless, he emphasized that these "historical barriers" are not definitive and can be overcome. To overcome them, despite their difficulty, the researcher proposed applying the right policies by learning from the experiences of other nations and adapting what is necessary to carry out the innovations needed to move forward. The challenge also involves seeing the glass as half empty or, as Wacziarg sees it, half full.

Finally, the speaker explained that history has, at most, a 50% effect in determining the development of nations. "The other 50% is decided by societies with their ability to evolve and leave the past behind," he concluded.