In this podcast episode, Professor Stefan Dercon argues that the elites’ policies, rather than the people (the masses), are the ones that matter for economic development (for example, even the international aid organizations deal with governments, rather than the people!); for elites to deliver development, one key factor is that they need coalitions and brokers (even for autocratic leaders).

He also notes that while democracies and autocracies perform similarly well in economy on average, the real and interesting thing is the variance among autocracies due to the lack of external accountability and correction.

About the host and speaker

Dr Brian Wong is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Hong Kong University and Fellow at Oxford Global Society

Stefan Dercon Professor of Economic Policy at Oxford University, former Chief Economist at UK Department of International Development