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The Elusive Quest for Growth: Economists' Adventures and Misadventures in the Tropics
Since the end of World War II, economists have tried to figure out howpoor countries in the tropics could attain standards of living approaching those ofcountries in Europe and North America. Attempted remedies have included providingforeign aid, investing in machines, fostering education, controlling populationgrowth, and making aid loans as well as forgiving those loans
...morePaperback, 400 pages
Published
August 8th 2002
by MIT Press (MA)
(first published 2001)
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William Easterly may have still been a little idealistic when he wrote his first major book. While his cases are interesting, his general thesis remains that altogether the World Bank and IMF aren't so bad, they just mess up a little. After the publication of his latest manuscript (White Man's Burden...), it's funny to think what Mr. Easterly would say today. That said, his book is a good introduction to international economic aid/development aid from the perspective of an Economics wonk. Given ...more
This is an outstanding book. If you are interested in economics, or how the world works you should read this. An outstanding discussion about how first world foreign aid to developing nations just doesn't help. Outstanding writing, and easy to read, comprehend.
After you have read it, it is worth reading a book by Jeffery Sachs "Ending Poverty in our Time." The contrast between the two authors and their approaches is well worth understanding. Since both are decent writers t...more
After you have read it, it is worth reading a book by Jeffery Sachs "Ending Poverty in our Time." The contrast between the two authors and their approaches is well worth understanding. Since both are decent writers t...more
Unquestionably the best book I've read all year.
William Easterly, a former economist at the World Bank, effectively criticizes the misguided policies of the Bank and the IMF over the last 50 years, and shows how faddish and rarely-examined economic theories caused these institutions to pour trillions of dollars into undeveloped countries with almost nothing to show for it. The critique is made even more poignant because Easterly still sincerely believes that economic growth in...more
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Easterly is more concerned with witticisms than he is in a full-fledged analysis of the principles of growth. All of his wisdom for growth comes straight from the neo-liberal playbook except for a few situations in which government can step in to pick up the slack where social benefits will be greater than the benefits won by entrepreneurs, as in the case of technological innovation.
As is common in the 'scientific' economic literature, a berating of 'do-gooders' is obligatory, and Easter...more
As is common in the 'scientific' economic literature, a berating of 'do-gooders' is obligatory, and Easter...more
If you've studied development economics in the last half decade, none of the stuff in this book will be news to you. In fact, you'll probably quibble, as I did, with some of his stats and reasoning. It's a book intended for a general audience, a "The End of Poverty" counterweight for the skeptical crowd (although I hear "White Man's Burden" is even more in this direction), so it won't satisfy policy wonks or econometrics geeks, unless you view it purely as an exercise to demo...more
Great book about the reason poor countries have failed to grow. Illuminating points about the politics of the aid disbursement process and how amount of loan disbursement, rather than effectiveness of the loans, is used to reward World Bank employees. Easterly also makes the reader appreciative of how complex development is and explains how economists' simplistic attempts to apply "panaceas" for growth failed for the last 50 years. Easterly's chapters on traps, complements and matches ...more
I've gotten through the chapters on failed growth panaceas. Failed panaceas: aid-->investment-->growth; physical capital (machines); human capital (education); population control (contraceptives); structural adjustment lending (I hope this is a dirty word to you, too); debt forgiveness. Reason for failure: People respond to incentives. I agree with Easterly here and I have no major problems with his reasoning and I trust his statistical analysis. I was reluctant to read evidence again...more
Recently went back and re-read this book. As other reviewers mentioned, I am curious to see what Easterly would say of this more optimistic earlier work, but regardless this text is an excellent, accessible history of economic development in the 20th century. Easterly explains the progression of economic thought and the fate of the 'latest and greatest' foreign aid ideas spurred by ever changing growth theories.
Contrary to some of the spurious one-line reviews below, this book is definitely not ...more
Contrary to some of the spurious one-line reviews below, this book is definitely not ...more
Michalyn
rated it
Recommends it for:
those interested in international development, poverty
Shelves:
non-fiction,
2008
Easterly provides a great overview of the different economic theories that have been posited to be the key to growth and why they have failed. Overall, his point is that creating the right incentives, from education, to private investment, to combating inequality, to diminishing ethnic conflict is the key to growth. At the same time, Easterly points out how much of development is a product of plain good luck.
What I loved most about this book is the highly accessible style and languag...more
What I loved most about this book is the highly accessible style and languag...more
It's one of those books that really makes you think. I spent many chapters experiencing 'aha!' moments, and found myself thinking about concepts long after I stopped reading for the day. It explained many problems with the way we try to aid the poor. Even more than that, it explained it in such a way that it was easy to make your own conclusions when applying it to other scenarios. Easterly doesn't tout some magical solution to the problems, but guides you along the journey that has been taken a...more
Easterly has sort of become the 'competitor' economist to Sach's and his bandwagon of celebritiy promotors. I think Easterly offers a A more realistic look at what can be done to help developing countries. Though I can't blame Sach's for his optimism. Econ dorks will like this.
This book one was written before "White Man's Burden" which I read first and really enjoyed; particularly because at that point I had only read very pro-development books. Easterly isn't quite as biting against the development community in this book, but cites many interesting statistics which are updated in White Man's Burden. Among them: Primary educational improvements don't appear correlated to GDP growth in subsequent years(read this a few times before, but always seems surprisi...more
Well-researched overview of developmental economics. While I at times chafed at Easterly's conclusions, which I found to be overly broad at points, the vast majority of the material is sound and interesting.
One of the best books on development out there, so long as you make it through it. It reads like an obscure doctoral thesis, but as one might imagine the pearls fall out on every page.
It explained why economical support from IMF to poor countries did not work. Why different policies such as education and birth control did not help them out of poverty.
Leaves some holes - most notably, makes some logical leaps that assume causality, rather than proving it...
Perhaps some of these are fleshed out in his other book, "White man's burden," which I hope to eventually tackle.
Those of you not interested in the economic theory behind each and every point can skim some parts, but some of the analysis is quite in depth (in a good way).
The brief stories of real families living in poverty interspersed between t...more
Perhaps some of these are fleshed out in his other book, "White man's burden," which I hope to eventually tackle.
Those of you not interested in the economic theory behind each and every point can skim some parts, but some of the analysis is quite in depth (in a good way).
The brief stories of real families living in poverty interspersed between t...more
Somewhat pessimistic review on international development strategies, and why previous attempts have failed. I wish it offered more solutions going forward.
Lucid explanation of how and why growth expectations have diverged from reality, and why there is no single panacea for economic growth.
Insightful, entertaining, enlightening; words rarely associated with an economics book.
Good book about economic growth. Makes the case that incentives make the world go round.
Incentives incentives incentives. A lot of new ideas about growth.
absolutely nice book of how economic theory failed in practice
Lollo
marked it as to-read
hmmm. do i really want to go here? anyone?
Changed my world view
This is about development and economics on a macro level, while I've been involved and more concerned at the micro level. So, there was plenty for me to learn and little to fall back on when I evaluate his claims. A good read for anyone concerned with aid and development written in an approachable and understandable way.
Much better than Easterly's "White Man's Burden." Part II is especially great: he analyzes every major panacea for growth since World War II and why it didn't work. It is well written, easy to understand, and more informative than my Latin American Economic Development class for the history of development. If you have a passing interest in development economics, it is a must-read.
Gross generalizations are an economist's tried and true method for capturing behavior. While Easterly take the development debate a step further with some of his insights, he also bothers me endlessly by abstracting away from root causes having to do with culture, sociology or anything not steeped in incentives.
Easterly is the anti-Jeffrey Sachs. In this book, he spends time exploring if foreign aid actually helps poor states develop. In the latter chapters, he gives a prescription for where he thinks development needs to go. Easterly is an ex-World Bank economist, a definite expert on this topic.
A better title might be What the World Bank is doing Wrong and How to Fix it. Easterly spent years working for the World Bank and the IMF so he has an inside view of international economics in action.
Very intriguing--made me rethink how developed and developing countries interact financially and economically. Maybe development loans haven't helped as much as we'd like for them to.
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William Easterly is Professor of
Economics at New York University, joint with Africa House, and Co-Director of NYU's Development Research Institute. He is editor of Aid Watch blog, Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research and Co-Editor of the Journal of Development Economics. He is the author of The White Man’s Burden: How the West’s Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill...more
More about William Easterly...
Economics at New York University, joint with Africa House, and Co-Director of NYU's Development Research Institute. He is editor of Aid Watch blog, Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research and Co-Editor of the Journal of Development Economics. He is the author of The White Man’s Burden: How the West’s Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill...more
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