re: What keeps countries and regions from progressing?

Let's turn that question inward. What keeps Louisiana from progressing?

Why are we consistently ranked as such a poor state with so many local goods and resources used nationally (oil, seafood, salt, etc)?

Why are 3/4 of all billboards here trashy lawyers trying to encourage you to sue others for no good reason?

Why are our roads, education, infrastructure, obesity rates, healthcare, fiscal stability, safety, and environment (i.e., clean air and water) consistently rated as the worst in the United States?

If you can answer why the quality of life here is so atrocious, then you can likely answer it on a larger scale.