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The question posed here, about why Eastern Europe fell behind the West, is an interesting one, but the approach taken here (pick two random-ass variables we can measure and try to explain everything with them) seems pretty damn weak, as does the attempt to tie these explanations to modern EU politics.

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Darren Asemoglu's "Why nations fail" gives a pretty good attempt at explaining the east vs. west divide in from the point of view of extractive vs. inclusive institutions and manages to build up a pretty convincing case.

I warmly endorse this book to everyone who is even sligthly interested of history or economics.

The article briefly mentioned your point

"Interestingly, the rate of regicide is closely linked to the homicide rate from among the general population, potentially allowing for wider conclusions than simply an analysis of elites"

I tend to agree with your comment, any time I read about violence in general populations I immediately think about lead and it's effects on people who are exposed to it and wonder how many other things in our modern environment cause similar effects. Eg. Mass production and use of Alcohol, Crack Cocaine, Crystal Meth, Fentanyl, High Fructose Corn Syrup etc.

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