The Role of Politics in Development

Not exactly a surprise but a good reminder. With a view to China (WSJ):

China is making great progress in lifting its people from the ranks of the world's poorest. But if the experience of other countries is any indicator, it will need a revolution to achieve rich-nation status.

Uprisings throughout the Middle East, and China's recent moves to suppress its own "Jasmine Revolution"—with steps such as jailing government critics—underscore a question facing the developing world: Can authoritarian or oligarchic states join the ranks of the world's wealthy, and even gain global economic primacy? Or is political change a prerequisite?

The answer isn't encouraging for the world's despots, according to economists who have studied the subject. Evidence suggests countries without good institutions such as universal property rights, impartial courts and equitably enforced laws tend not to rise above a per-capita annual income level of about $15,000. Those institutions coincide with political freedom, which seldom comes about without upheaval.