Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 338.90091724
EAN: 9780195311457
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
Sales Rank: 24065
Studio: Oxford University Press

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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.




Rating: - He loves his research.
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 ... Read More

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Rating: - Collier on TEDTalks video podcast
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 ... Read More

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Rating: - Very broad - Great for the unfamiliar
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 ... Read More

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Rating: - Good Synopsis
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.
... Read More

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Rating: - Bottomed Out
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 ... Read More

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