There have been predictable reactions to Mitt Romney's claim that the difference between Israel and its neighbors is because the former has a better culture. Jared Diamond, who wrote the book Guns, Germs and Steel, dissects the claim in this NYT piece. That piece aside, many people asked about whether it was appropriate to make that claim given the different circumstances in which the two nations live. Still, this matter is worthy of consideration because there are differences between Israel and Egypt, Syria or other closer countries that do not live under the same political constraints of Palestine.
My view is that Mitt Romney may really believe in the argument that culture is a determinant of economic success. More surprising to me is that he and his team make quotes and attribute certain findings to Jared Diamond and other authors when these are not correct. Its clear that as the article by Jared Diamond states, this candidate for the presidency has most probably not read the book that he quotes liberally from and seems to be less concerned with differences between these countries. In spite of his support for "superior cultures", one would expect him to note that an income per capita of US$ 10,000 that he attributes to Palestine would still make it a mid-income country. An undeniably good business head should not show such ignorance about the economy. Its a plain fail for the campaign research team.
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