I learned about the 2024 Nobel in economics from this Planet Money podcast. Basically, the award is for work illustrating how economic growth, and hence economic inequality, can be explained by “institutions”. And specifically “inclusive institutions”. And inclusive institutions seems to come down to what is called (in academic circles and outside the U.S. political context) “liberalism”. Democracy, the rule of law, economic freedom, competitive and well-functioning markets including labor markets, free and fair trade. It all kind of makes sense, just as the world seems headed in other directions. The silver lining, I suppose, is that no matter what hand your country is dealt in terms of geography or natural resources, you can theoretically build good institutions and succeed over time.