Helping the Bottom Billion: Is There a Third Way in the Development Debate?

Publication Date: September 2007

Publisher: Center for Global Development; Center for Global Development

Author(s): Michael Clemens; Michael Clemens

Research Area: Economics

Type:

Abstract:

Paul Collier's new book, The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries Are Failing and What Can Be Done About It, argues that many developing countries are doing just fine and that the real development challenge is the 58 countries that are economically stagnant and caught in one or more "traps": armed conflict, natural resource dependence, poor governance, and geographic isolation. In a review of the book recently published in Foreign Affairs, CGD research fellow Michael Clemens explores whether or not Collier's proposed solutions constitute a practical middle path between William Easterly's development pessimism and Jeffrey Sach's development boosterism.Learn more