This setting lets you change the way you view articles. You can choose to have articles open in a dialog window, a new tab, or directly in the same window.
Open in Dialog
Open in New Tab
Open in same window

Journal of Economic Literature: Vol. 43 No. 4 (December 2005)

JEL Volume. 43, Issue 4 | leftPrevious ArticleNext Articleright

Expand

Quick Tools:

Print Article Summary Email Link to this Article Export Citation
Sign up for Email Alerts Follow us on Twitter Subscription Information
(Institutional Administrator Access)

Explore:

JEL - All Issues

JEL Forthcoming Articles JEL Indexes (Members Only)

Are We Collapsing? A Review of Jared Diamond's Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed

Article Citation

Page, Scott E. 2005. "Are We Collapsing? A Review of Jared Diamond's Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed." The Journal of Economic Literature, 43(4): 1049-1062.

DOI: 10.1257/002205105775362032

Abstract

Jared Diamond's Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed (Viking Penguin, 2005), tells the dramatic decline of past civilizations—the Easter Islanders, the Anasazi in the Southwestern United States, the Mayans in Central America, the Norse Vinland settlement in Greenland. These civilizations did not slowly fall apart; they suffered drastic reductions in population and productivity. In Diamond's account, their collapses result from mismanaged resources, lost friends, gained enemies, climate changes, and most tellingly, their cultures and beliefs. Diamond provides captivating histories and an engaging explanation of the sciences required to piece those histories together, but his logic and his prescriptions would benefit from greater familiarity with some basic principles of economics and a richer understanding of human nature.

Article Full-Text Access

Full-text Article

Authors

Page, Scott E.


Journal of Economic Literature



AEA Member Login:


Quick Tools:

Email Link to this Issue

Sign up for Email Alerts

Follow us on Twitter

Subscription Information
(Institutional Administrator Access)

Explore:

JEL - Forthcoming Articles

JEL Indexes (Members Only)

AEA Journals

Virtual Field Journals

AEAweb | AEA Journals | Contact Us