Does the elite treat its country as a sort of luxury watch that it’s only looking after for future generations...

or as a stolen wallet full of cash? 

South Africa is a case study of what happens when the elite’s time horizon shortens.

There are only a few lucky countries whose elites reliably think decades ahead. This is an unfairly self-perpetuating system. Typically, these are old democracies, where members of the elite live in old houses. Even there, elites have varying time horizons.

Simon Kuper FT 29 July 2021

https://www.ft.com/content/73f6ba3a-c381-424d-a94d-138921a896ce