Jean-Paul Faguet

To give you rough numbers, there are about 1,120 municipalities in Bolivia today, just to use a standard modern unit of territory. The Spanish made it to, now, you know, obviously they weren't working in municipalities, but they made it to about 350 modern Colombian municipalities. They didn't even fully occupy all of the, each of those municipalities.

To give you rough numbers, there are about 1,120 municipalities in Bolivia today, just to use a standard modern unit of territory. The Spanish made it to, now, you know, obviously they weren't working in municipalities, but they made it to about 350 modern Colombian municipalities. They didn't even fully occupy all of the, each of those municipalities.

You know, they did some of the central ones around Bogota, some of the more distant ones, they only made it to one or two points in those municipalities, but they never made it to the other two thirds at all. In 300 years of colonialism, they might've walked through it, but they never established a presence, right? Um,

You know, they did some of the central ones around Bogota, some of the more distant ones, they only made it to one or two points in those municipalities, but they never made it to the other two thirds at all. In 300 years of colonialism, they might've walked through it, but they never established a presence, right? Um,

One of our findings is about, sort of to give you the bottom line of the paper, is about the importance of building institutions of the state. And the kind of shocking thing is that Columbia became independent in 1821. Today, it's been independent for more than 200 years. And we, the Columbians, including partly myself, have yet to finish fully occupying the space.

One of our findings is about, sort of to give you the bottom line of the paper, is about the importance of building institutions of the state. And the kind of shocking thing is that Columbia became independent in 1821. Today, it's been independent for more than 200 years. And we, the Columbians, including partly myself, have yet to finish fully occupying the space.

Because there are places today in 2024 where the Colombian state has yet to arrive in the sense that there's no police station, no local mayor's office, no school and no hospital. But there are people? There are people living there. Oh, yeah, yeah, sure.

Because there are places today in 2024 where the Colombian state has yet to arrive in the sense that there's no police station, no local mayor's office, no school and no hospital. But there are people? There are people living there. Oh, yeah, yeah, sure.

There are poor farmers living there, and they're kind of self-organizing and trying to solve their own problems and maybe provide some potable water or deal with where should we throw the garbage. But the Colombian state is not present.

There are poor farmers living there, and they're kind of self-organizing and trying to solve their own problems and maybe provide some potable water or deal with where should we throw the garbage. But the Colombian state is not present.

So if you and I get on a plane and go to Bogota now, I just came back from there a few days ago, it's a modern, incredibly sophisticated city, and the government is big. The municipal government of Bogota, let alone the national government, It's big and does amazing things, but in other parts of the country, it's just absent. It's just like not there.

So if you and I get on a plane and go to Bogota now, I just came back from there a few days ago, it's a modern, incredibly sophisticated city, and the government is big. The municipal government of Bogota, let alone the national government, It's big and does amazing things, but in other parts of the country, it's just absent. It's just like not there.

Yeah, yeah, that's right. Exactly. There were periods in American history during the expansion where there was a piece of land that, you know, a big like the state of New Mexico, where I am right now, had been claimed. But it was, you know, in the process of being occupied. But at some point it got occupied. And the state is very strong. It's decentralized. It's federal. It's highly robust.

Yeah, yeah, that's right. Exactly. There were periods in American history during the expansion where there was a piece of land that, you know, a big like the state of New Mexico, where I am right now, had been claimed. But it was, you know, in the process of being occupied. But at some point it got occupied. And the state is very strong. It's decentralized. It's federal. It's highly robust.

And it's present. You may not like what it's doing everywhere, but it's present everywhere.

And it's present. You may not like what it's doing everywhere, but it's present everywhere.

Yeah, exactly. So maybe I can illustrate this nicely if I just tell you the story of how this paper came about. My longtime co-author and one of my best friends in academia and beyond, he's just a wonderful person, is Fabio Sanchez, Professor Fabio Sanchez, who's a very senior professor at Los Andes, which is one of the best universities in Colombia, especially in economics and political economy.

Yeah, exactly. So maybe I can illustrate this nicely if I just tell you the story of how this paper came about. My longtime co-author and one of my best friends in academia and beyond, he's just a wonderful person, is Fabio Sanchez, Professor Fabio Sanchez, who's a very senior professor at Los Andes, which is one of the best universities in Colombia, especially in economics and political economy.

He calls me up one day. We've been working together for years. He calls me up one day and he says, you know about the encomienda, this nasty institution? I'm like, yeah, yeah, I know. It was bad news during colonization. He's like, we have preliminary evidence that it's tied to better development outcomes all over Colombia. I'm like, you're kidding me. This can't be true.

He calls me up one day. We've been working together for years. He calls me up one day and he says, you know about the encomienda, this nasty institution? I'm like, yeah, yeah, I know. It was bad news during colonization. He's like, we have preliminary evidence that it's tied to better development outcomes all over Colombia. I'm like, you're kidding me. This can't be true.