Message from Dean - May 8th 2007
I am currently testing out a new version of the APF Bridge Component - If you notice any errors within this demo store please drop me a line.
List Price: $15.95Amazon.com's Price: $10.85 You Save: $5.10 (32%)Prices subject to change.
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
This item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping.
Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 338.90091724
EAN: 9780195373387
ISBN: 0195373383
Label: Oxford University Press, USA
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 224
Publication Date: August 22, 2008
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Studio: Oxford University Press, USA
Alternate Versions: Click to Display
Related Items:
Browse for similar items by category:
Editorial Review:
Product Description:
In the universally acclaimed and award-winning The Bottom Billion, Paul Collier reveals that fifty failed states--home to the poorest one billion people on Earth--pose the central challenge of the developing world in the twenty-first century. The book shines 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 nations between reformers and corrupt leaders--and the corrupt are winning. Collier analyzes the causes of failure, pointing to a set of traps that ensnare these countries, including civil war, a dependence on the extraction and export of natural resources, and bad governance. Standard solutions do not work, 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, new international charters, and even conduct carefully calibrated military interventions. 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.
"Terrifically readable."
--Time.com
"Set to become a classic. Crammed with statistical nuggets and common sense, his book should be compulsory reading."
--The Economist
"If Sachs seems too saintly and Easterly too cynical, then Collier is the authentic old Africa hand: he knows the terrain and has a keen ear.... If you've ever found yourself on one side or the other of those arguments--and who hasn't?--then you simply must read this book."
--Niall Ferguson, The New York Times Book Review
"Rich in both analysis and recommendations.... Read this book. You will learn much you do not know. It will also change the way you look at the tragedy of persistent poverty in a world of plenty."
--Financial Times
Average Rating: 
Rating:  -
Collier loves his research. He also loves the research of people who have studied under him. Finally, he loves the research of people he works with.
While I have no doubt that his research has produced some fruitful insights into poverty, I don't think his book is the amazing must-read development book of the year - or even a book really worth reading. Here's the nutshell version, that will save you some money:
The bottom billion people out there (part of a number of countries Collier won't name because he doesn't want to make things worse) have it bad. Really bad. They're not likely to get better anytime soon for a lot of reasons. Throwing money at the problem won't necessarily solve it. We need to have a concerted effort to bring up their neighbors and drag the bottom billion along with them.
There. I said it in what, 100 words? Collier, I admire your ability to wax poetic about research papers, but it's not necessary to refer back to your research ... Read More
Rating:  -
I saw Paul Collier's talk via TED website. Watch that for a 20 minute preview of this book.
He nonchalantly reveals that aid for developing countries is too often a myth by revealing the conflict of interest that comes with each package.
He has a way of making mind-blowing statements that make you realise that he's only stating the obvious about democracy, politics, development and free-trade.
The world would be a much better place if the evangelists for democracy would simply keep in mind some simple principles about good governance and the balance of powers between legislation, administration and judiciary.
Rating:  -
This book is very general. The generalizations go too far at times. However, it is very informative and provides a very basic outline of the poorest of poor nations and the 'traps' that make them unable to progress. It is great for someone who is unfamiliar with these issues, providing background information. Collier presents a lot of facts and figures for things that are not very quantifiable. However, he explains how and where his data come from, his sources are all reputable, and his assumptions are based on serious research and knowledge. I think this is great for someone new to the subject. Although he provides ballpark figures that may be very inaccurate in a given situation, these figures are helpful for someone who couldn't even guess otherwise.
Rating: -
The Bottom Billion
By
Paul Collier
Paul Collier is Professor of Economics and Director of the Center for the Study of African Economies at Oxford University. Former director of Development Research at the World Bank and advisor to the British government's Commission on Africa, he is one of the world's leading experts on African economies, and he has penned a comprehensive book on ways to lift the billion or so people living in failed or failing states into the 21st century.
Collier points out why this is important to us not just to the billion people who are living and dying in 14th Century conditions. With globalization and the flattening of the world the twenty first century world of material comfort, global travel, and economic interdependence will become increasingly vulnerable to these failed or failing states of chaos. As the bottom billion diverges from in increasingly sophisticated world economy, integration will become harder, not easier.
Read More
Rating:  -
Collier's book summaries his findings of years in research on state failure and poverty. In the Bottom Billion he offers three main points. First, the development problem of the world should focus on the poorest billion people and not all developing countries. Second, bottom billion societies struggle with two moral extremes: Those trying to do good and powerful groups that oppose them. Third, rich countries do not need to be bystanders in this struggle.
Collier found four basic reasons or traps of failed economies which result in poverty. The four traps are conflict, natural resource abundance, landlocked with bad neighbors, and bad governance. The natural resource abundance as a poverty trap is counterintuitive, but Collier explains the economic concept of Dutch disease, and how resources can discourage a country's chances of diversifying exports.
His research gives a mixed report card for aid. Foreign humanitarian aid, like a natural resource windfall, can give ... Read More
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
|
Amazon Store 