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The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries are Failing and What Can Be Done About It

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Author: Paul Collier
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Category: Book

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Media: Paperback
Pages: 224
Number Of Items: 1
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Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.8

ISBN: 0195373383
Dewey Decimal Number: 338.90091724
EAN: 9780195373387
ASIN: 0195373383

Publication Date: August 22, 2008
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•	ISBN13: 9780195373387
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Editorial Reviews:

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

Customer Reviews:

Showing reviews 1-5 of 62

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great book November 18, 2009
Adam Hirschberg (San Francisco, CA USA)
Real perspectives from real people. Paul Collier knows his stuff- unlike so many other authors writing about poverty - aka Jeffrey Sachs.

4 out of 5 stars

The Bottom Billion, Diverging From the Rest of Mankind October 18, 2009
Michelle Walls (Redmond, WA USA)
The "bottom billion" are "a cesspool of misery next to a world of growing prosperity," (p 99). Inside Paul Collier's book it's apparent that providing support to poverty stricken countries is a slippery slope. Increased educational efforts often create a "passport" for citizens to travel away from turmoil. Although, without educated people it is hard to build strong reliable governments, industry and communities to strike for reform. It is a balancing act, and this might contribute to some hesitation in thinking these countries will ever dig their way out. Education seems to be the key in helping make a country successful, but only if they can retain their talent by subsequently offering opportunity.

The book spells out a sad story that most people already know. Within the first few paragraphs Collier talks about the reason the "bottom billion" are failing: because they are not living up to 21st century standards. These standards, like communication structures, government and industry are sometimes too far to reach; "their reality is the fourteenth century: civil war, plague, ignorance," (p 3). These two worlds are so brilliantly dissimilar because of their difference; the bottom billion has failed to integrate.

Humans are individuals, but there is an innate need to belong to the larger population, and if you don't belong a wedge is driven between the two. In a TED talk, Collier states that these people are "diverging from the rest of mankind." This books touches on a larger vision of human individuality in a cultural sense; we are a part of a specific culture that defines who we are. He states the future implications of divergence are grand, "by 2050 the development gulf will no longer be between a rich billion in the most developed countries and five billion in the developing countries; rather, it will be between the trapped billion and the rest of humankind," (p 11).

Within the traps he defines: conflict, natural resources, landlocked with bad neighbors and bad governance, I see an opportunity for digital media to help unite. "There is a black hole, and many counties are indisputably heading into it, rather than being drawn towards success," (p 6). Technology might be able to aid in bringing corruption to light by generating more communication channels. But I feel the technology curve doesn't need to continue here in the US, it needs to happen inside these "bottom billion" communities. Charity given from the developed world is often donated with some sense of guilt, guilt that they lived a decent life and have only recently been introduced to the gravity of the bottom billion. Therefore I believe focusing on internal communication programs with area sponsors could be a valuable option.

Much like a football fan waving their arms in disapproval of a play, it's easier to look into a situation like in sub Saharan Africa and dictate how order should be achieved; being on the field brings a completely different perspective. As we see in Collier's book the slightest ripple of charity, support, industry and much more can make a big difference depending on the time it's introduced. Building a stronger internal structure for communication that promotes alternatives for citizens could have a brighter outcome than being dictated by policies and parties 10,000 miles away.

5 out of 5 stars

The Bottom Billion, Paul Collier, OUP September 30, 2009
GEORGE SIAKOTOS
A great book, well written for those interested in Development Economics. I work on an International Organization, and Collier's book is a unique reference book.

3 out of 5 stars

Interesting read July 26, 2009
Amy J. Gambrill (York, Maine)
An interesting take on the good and bad governance practices that developing countries can slip into that bring them up out of the cycle of poverty or drag them further down into it.

5 out of 5 stars

inspiring... May 1, 2009
JT (Massachusetts, USA)
absolutely the best book on development policy I have read. I am an economjst and I have at times worked for the World Bank Nd IMF but I have never reached the clarity that Paul Collier provides. every head of state needs his briefing.

Showing reviews 1-5 of 62

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