In my new book I show "How Nations Escape Poverty," but I also have some comments on how once very rich countries became poor. These examples should be a warning to all of us, including the U.S.

There is probably no country in the world that has descended so dramatically in the last 100 years as Argentina. In the early 20th century, the average per capita income of the population was among the highest in the world. The expression “riche comme un argentin” – rich as an Argentinean – was a commonly heard expression at the time.

Argentina’s descent is closely associated with one name – Colonel Juan Domingo Perón. He was elected president in February 1945. His first term lasted until 1955. His political agenda: big government. Argentina’s telephone company was nationalized, its railways, its energy supply, its private radio. Between 1946 and 1949 alone, government spending tripled. The number of public sector employees rose from 243,000 in 1943 to 540,000 in 1955 – many new jobs were created in government agencies and in the civil service to provide for the supporters of Perón’s Workers’ Party. Economic policy was socialist: although passenger and freight........

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