The Mystery of Wealth

The purpose of this book is to demystify the causes of wealth and poverty like never before done. It is the seminal comprehensive presentation of the CDR index. The CDR index is a mathematical model that shows how capitalism (C), democracy (D) and rule of law (R) jointly with natural resources and geography explain almost all economic growth. As it turns out, capitalism, democracy, and rule of law are intangible policy variables that are at the disposal of all countries and explain almost all gross domestic production of tangible products and services. There is also a minor contribution from non-policy variables such as natural resources and geography. These are all that countries require at their disposal and choice in order to enjoy their desired standard of living. The CDR economic growth model is a new paradigm.