The wealthiest nations of the world are all in deep economic and political crisis. Explanations abound. Many come from those in such difficulties themselves, with a tendency to find the most grievous failures not in the own backyard but among other wealthy and democratic countries. But such polemics ignore the obvious: namely that the difficulties besetting the most wealthy and democratic regions of the world have much in common and are rooted in similar causes: The further the advance in wealth, the greater the difficulties of continuing with the model of market based economic expansion. The longer the duration of democratic governance, the weaker the capacity of this democratic system to escape political blockage, to deliver rational decisions and a sound administration of public goods.
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