The Blogs: What makes countries successful | Yair Lapid
Yair Lapid argues that the political system is the single most important factor determining a country's success, more than religion, history, or natural resources. He contrasts South Korea with North Korea, and successful democracies with failing states like Argentina. Lapid warns that Israel, which met every success criterion four years ago, is now showing signs of systemic corruption and failure under the current government.
Yair Lapid argues that the political system is the single most important factor determining a country's success, outweighing religion, history, climate, geography, and demographics. He cites the 2024 Nobel Prize in Economics, awarded to Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, and James Robinson, who demonstrated that countries fail when the political system serves a small group close to those in power. Lapid contrasts South Korea, a vibrant liberal democracy with income per person 29 times higher than North Korea, a dictatorship run by the regime's cronies. He traces the Industrial Revolution to England's parliamentary constraints on the king, and the United States' rise to its founding principle that government belongs to citizens. Lapid warns that Israel, which met every criterion of a successful country four years ago, is now showing signs of moving into the failing category. He cites specific examples: a transport minister who fails at her job pays no price; a former public security minister found personally responsible for the Mount Meron disaster was promoted to Knesset speaker; a man convicted three times attends cabinet meetings alongside others convicted of supporting terrorism and corruption. Lapid concludes that corruption is no longer incidental but has become the system, severing the link between success and reward, and between failure and consequences.