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The Reith Lectures

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Significant international thinkers deliver the BBC's flagship annual lecture series.

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The Reith Lectures: Niall Ferguson: The Rule of Law and Its Enemies: 2012

The Reith Lectures: Niall Ferguson - The Rule of Law and Its Enemies: Episode 1: The Human Hive

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Niall Ferguson - The Rule of Law and Its Enemies

Episode 1

Episode 1: The Human Hive

The Human Hive

BBC Radio 4 - The Reith Lectures, Niall Ferguson - The Rule of Law and Its Enemies, The Human Hive

Niall Ferguson argues that institutions determine the success or failure of nations.

Historian Niall Ferguson argues that institutions determine the success or failure of nations. He examines the role of democracy and asks whether it has a fatal flaw at its heart.

The eminent economic historian Professor Niall Ferguson argues that institutions determine the success or failure of nations. In a lecture delivered at the London School of Economics and Political Science, he says that a society governed by abstract, impersonal rules will become richer than one ruled by personal relationships. The rule of law is crucial to the creation of a modern economy and its early adoption is the reason why Western nations grew so powerful in the modern age.

But are the institutions of the West now degenerating? Professor Ferguson asks whether the democratic system has a fatal flaw at its heart. In the West young people are confronting the fact that they must live with the huge financial debt generated by their parents, something they had no control over despite the fact that they were born into a democracy. Is there a way of restoring the compact between different generations?

Producer: Jane Beresford.

The Reith Lectures: Niall Ferguson - The Rule of Law and Its Enemies

BBC Radio 4

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Exploring the importance of man-made institutions in driving change around the world.

Economic historian Niall Ferguson explores the importance of man-made institutions in driving change around the world.

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The Reith Lectures

Niall Ferguson - The Rule of Law and Its Enemies

Episode 1: The Human Hive

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