William Easterly

William Russell Easterly

Argues that western foreign aid efforts have done little to stem global poverty, citing how such organizations as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank are not held accountable for ineffective practices that the author believes intrude into the inner workings of other countries. By the author of The Elusive Quest for Growth. 60,000 first printing.

Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good

The White Man's Burden

Large positive residuals, such as those associated with the high performance of the Four Tigers, have historically been transitory. The stratospheric trajectory of the Four should be heading back toward earth soon.

Growth Regressions Meet the Gang of Four

Explaining Miracles

Nancy Birdsall

The urgency of reducing poverty in the developing world has been the subject of a public campaign by such unlikely policy experts as George Clooney, Alicia Keyes, Elton John, Angelina Jolie, and Bono. And yet accompanying the call for more foreign aid is an almost universal discontent with the effectiveness of the existing aid system. In Reinventing Foreign Aid, development expert William Easterly has gathered top scholars in the field to discuss how to improve foreign aid. These authors, Easterly points out, are not claiming that their ideas will (to invoke a current slogan) Make Poverty History. Rather, they take on specific problems and propose some hard-headed solutions. Easterly himself, in an expansive and impassioned introductory chapter, makes a case for the "searchers"—who explore solutions by trial and error and learn from feedback—over the "planners"—who throw an endless supply of resources at a big goal—as the most likely to reduce poverty. Other writers look at scientific evaluation of aid projects (including randomized trials) and describe projects found to be cost-effective, including vaccine delivery and HIV education; consider how to deal with the government of the recipient state (work through it or bypass a possibly dysfunctional government?); examine the roles of the International Monetary Fund (a de facto aid provider) and the World Bank; and analyze some new and innovative proposals for distributing aid. Contributors: Abhijit Banerjee, Nancy Birdsall, Craig Burnside, Esther Duflo, Domenico Fanizza, William Easterly, Ruimin He, Kurt Hoffman, Stephen Knack, Michael Kremer, Mari Kuraishi, Ruth Levine, Bertin Martens, John McMillan, Edward Miguel, Jonathan Morduch, Todd Moss, Gunilla Pettersson, Lant Pritchett, Steven Radelet, Aminur Rahman, Ritva Reinikka, Jakob Svensson, Nicolas van de Walle, James Vreeland, Dennis Whittle, Michael Woolcock.

Reinventing Foreign Aid

Highly indebted countries are probably better off raising conventional taxes and cutting current spending -- rather than raising taxes on financial intermediation and cutting public investment. But shifting policies may require the breathing space only new external financing or debt relief would provide.

Fiscal Adjustment and Deficit Financing During the Debt Crisis

Desde el final de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, los economistas se han esforzado por averiguar por qué los países pobres no consiguen alcanzar los niveles de renta de los países industrializados del Norte, a la vez que han aplicado toda clase de remedios a la situación, con resultados descorazonadores. Según el autor, estos fracasos no lo son del conocimiento económico sino de no emplear en la práctica los principios de la economía. En un estilo accesible, y a menudo irreverente, este libro presenta la teoría moderna del crecimiento económico desde la óptica de un economista comprometido con su aplicación práctica. "William Easterly no sólo conoce bien la teoría económica sino también los países en desarrollo. Ha escrito un libro comprometido sobre el problema más difícil de todos: cómo conseguir que los países pobres mantengan un crecimiento sostenido" –Robert M. Solow, Premio Nobel de Economía. "Este libro, de una enorme fuerza, puede ayudar a curar la ignorancia de la gente que soluciona los problemas del desarrollo a base de consignas" –Rudi Dornbusch, MIT. "Es éste un libro brillante, original. Es, francamente, el mejor libro que conozco sobre desarrollo económico" –Sergio Rebelo, Northwestern University. Traducción de Bernardo Kugler, profesor de economía en la Universitat Pompeu Fabra.

William Russell Easterly

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