http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/09/30/wjcurve30.xml&page=1

Ian Bremmer’s J-Curve has got the chattering classes all excited.

From the page:

The “J curve” is an explanation for the way the world works that is so simple that you can draw it on the back of a paper napkin.

How does the curve work?

The J is suspended between a vertical axis, “stability”, and a horizontal axis, “openness” (to both political and economic reforms).

At the top left of the graph are totalitarian dictatorships.
North Korea is the classic example.
At the top right are Western democracies, such as the United States and Britain.

“Think about the presidential election here in 2000,” says Bremmer. “The other guy got more votes, the result was decided by a controversial Supreme Court vote, and what happened? Nothing.

That’s stability.”