Post #120

📈One City, Two Worlds: The Nogales Mystery Ever wondered why some countries are rich and others stay poor? Look at the city of Nogales. It’s split right down the middle by a border fence, but the two sides are worlds apart. 🇺🇸North of the wall (USA): High salaries, safe streets, great hospitals, and protected rights. People trust the system. 🇲🇽South of the wall (Mexico): Residents are 3x poorer. They face higher infant mortality, corruption, and organized crime. Why the gap? Same geography, same climate, same ancestors. The answer lies in The Rules of the Game (Institutions) established centuries ago: 🇪🇸The Spanish Model (Extraction): In Mexico, the goal was to exploit. Colonial elites built a system to squeeze labor and resources out of the people. This created a legacy of monopolies and inequality. 🇬🇧The English Model (Incentives): In the North, there was no gold to steal. To attract settlers, the "system" had to offer them land ownership and political rights. This sparked a boom in innovation and competition. Prosperity isn't an accident. When a system is rigged for a tiny elite, the country stalls. When a system protects the rights of everyone, the country thrives. Wealth isn't about what’s in the ground—it’s about the laws on the books. 📈 Inspired by "Why Nations Fail" by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson.