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Binding: HardcoverDewey Decimal Number: 338.90091724 EAN: 9780195311457 Edition: 1 ISBN: 0195311450 Label: Oxford University Press Manufacturer: Oxford University Press Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 224 Publication Date: April 27, 2007 Publisher: Oxford University Press Studio: Oxford University Press Editorial Review: Product Description: Global poverty, Paul Collier points out, is actually falling quite rapidly for about eighty percent of the world. The real crisis lies in a group of about 50 failing states, the bottom billion, whose problems defy traditional approaches to alleviating poverty. In The Bottom Billion, Collier contends that these fifty failed states pose the central challenge of the developing world in the twenty-first century. The book shines a much needed light on this group of small nations, largely unnoticed by the industrialized West, that are dropping further and further behind the majority of the world's people, often falling into an absolute decline in living standards. A struggle rages within each of these nation between reformers and corrupt leaders--and the corrupt are winning. Collier analyzes the causes of failure, pointing to a set of traps that snare these countries, including civil war, a dependence on the extraction and export of natural resources, and bad governance. Standard solutions do not work against these traps, he writes; aid is often ineffective, and globalization can actually make matters worse, driving development to more stable nations. What the bottom billion need, Collier argues, is a bold new plan supported by the Group of Eight industrialized nations. If failed states are ever to be helped, the G8 will have to adopt preferential trade policies, new laws against corruption, and new international charters, and even conduct carefully calibrated military interventions. As former director of research for the World Bank and current Director of the Center for the Study of African Economies at Oxford University, Paul Collier has spent a lifetime working to end global poverty. In The Bottom Billion, he offers real hope for solving one of the great humanitarian crises facing the world today. Average Rating:
 Rating:  - Thought ProvokingI really enjoyed this book. Paul Collier has taken what is a very complex issue and presented it in a concise view of the situation of the "Bottom Billion" which many of us do not really understand. Collier and his colleagues have done an enormous amount of research and analysis and have distilled that into a compelling read for anyone who worries about what's happening to our world. To me, the book shed light on the difficulty faced by the "Bottom Billion" and how, with the best ... Read More Rating:  - Poorest billionWhat do we do with them? Prof. Collier of Oxford University, has done years of research, publishing, conferences, on this topic. Yet, one-size- fit-all solution never came up. With civil war, ethnic conflict, fighting for natural resources, bad governance, bad neighbors, military power, aids from G8, law, trade policy issues, one would think that the solution is not possible. What is needed is to have a strong and capable leadership at the top. With a strong ... Read More Rating:  - Excellent Book Should Be Read By Everyone Concerned with PovertyCollier is a serious scholar in the world of development and here he has written a very important book. Here is the basic argument - while it sucks to be poor in countries like India, India is heading for relative prosperity. Where is really, really sucks to be poor is in a number of countries, concentrated in Africa where there is little hope of breaking out of a cycle of severe poverty. Collier pinpoints four ways in which these countries stay at the bottom - (1) they are racked by civil wars; (2) they're ... Read More Rating: - Will stimulate your thinkingI love books like this. I am not a development expert not involved in international business nor government. Just a average middle class guy who tries to think beyond the bounds of my little world. Can't argue whether anything he put on these pages is wrong or right. It's engaging writing and I often found myself pausing to ponder some point Collier makes. All-in-all, a great read. One additional note: The first chapter is very wonkish...lots of statistics and figures. ... Read More Rating: - Bottom Billion- They can be helped!The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries are Failing and What Can Be Done About It Paul Collier wrote this book with all the facts on the table. He understands what he is talking about. As an African I couldn't agree more with what he wrote. He has laid out the 4 major traps that poor countries(countries with slow growing economies) are faced with.Paul Collier states that these four traps are: -The Conflict trap -The Natural Resource trap - Being Landlocked ... Read More |
