Why Warm Countries Are Poorer: The Mountain Hypothesis

This two-part article published few months back is perfect for going down the rabbit hole on a weekend.

The post argues that mountains are an underrated driver of why many warm and tropical countries stay poorer. Near the equator, people move to higher altitudes to escape extreme heat.

Yet mountain living brings two big drags: extremely high transportation costs that kill trade, and greater ethnic fragmentation that often fuels conflict.

The pattern shows up consistently across Latin America, Africa and parts of Asia.

Irrespective of whether you agree with the author or not (the piece sometimes blurs correlation with causation), it is a highly engaging and thought-provoking read.

Useful for anyone interested in geography, development economics and the deep drivers of national prosperity.

→ Full article: https://open.substack.com/pub/unchartedterritories/p/mountains

Do not miss to read the comments!