The J Curve

Here's how the world works:

"Bremmer's sloping J ('a bit like a Nike swoosh') is a shorthand method for tracking the fall and rise of nations as they open up to democracy and the markets. Some of America's most heavyweight pundits – Francis Fukuyama, Strobe Talbott, Daniel Burstein – have warmly endorsed the book."

How does the curve work? The J is suspended between a vertical axis, "stability", and a horizontal axis, "openness" (to both political and economic reforms).

At the top left of the graph are totalitarian dictatorships. North Korea is the classic example. At the top right are Western democracies, such as the United States and Britain. "Think about the presidential election here in 2000," says Bremmer. "The other guy got more votes, the result was decided by a controversial Supreme Court vote, and what happened? Nothing. That's stability."

I thought this was an extremley interesting article and would recommend pushing through all 7 pages of the article. via Arbroath