Greece and Argentina are, after all, democracies, however imperfect, and so are most of the countries in Latin America or East Asia that worry about being stuck at middle-income level. The Acemoglu-Robinson account of a single small elite pulling all the strings needs to be replaced by a different narrative, in which an array of politically powerful groups exercise veto power over decisions that affect their economic interests.
这个说法对于解释为何存在贫困陷阱很有用——这也是该书试图回答的问题——但并没有澄清为何会有中等收入陷阱。毕竟，不管如何不完美，希腊和阿根廷总归是民主国家，担心陷在中等收入水平上的拉美和东亚国家大部分也是如此。阿西莫格鲁-罗宾逊的一小撮精英把持命脉的解释需要用不同的说辞来代替，在这套说辞中，政治强力集团对影响他们的经济利益的决策行使否决权。