Acemoglu and Robinson were co-authors of “Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity and Poverty,” which was first published in 2012.

Acemoglu, Robinson and Johnson’s theory tries the impossible: to find the one silver bullet factor that explains why nations become prosperous or not. But it doesn’t hold up under scrutiny.

Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James Robinson will share the prize, which carries a cash award of 11 million Swedish kronor ($1 million).

U.S.-based economists Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James Robinson were awarded the Nobel prize in economic sciences on Monday for their work on wealth inequality between nations.

Acemoglu and Robinson wrote the 2012 bestseller “Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty,’’ which argued that manmade problems were responsible for keeping countries ...

Acemoglu and Robinson wrote the 2012 bestseller, “Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty,” which argued that manmade problems were responsible for keeping countries poor.

No doubt Daren Acemoglu and James Robinson of MIT and Simon Johnson of the University of Chicago have each contributed fresh insights to their field and have written bestselling books on ...