[March 25, 2014] Another good read, this time by economist William Easterly published in 2013. I just had time to order the book and began reading it on my Kindle but wanted to get it on my favorite lists quickly. The timeliness of the book is great, given the current debates on poverty. Congressman Paul Ryan was the latest to speak to the issue and he received immediate push back. The topic is relevant and appropriate for discussion in a democracy. The edited write-up on the book below is from the author.
The Tyranny of Experts: Economists, Dictators, and the Forgotten Rights of the Poor. William Easterly
Over the last century, global poverty has largely been viewed as a technical problem that merely requires the right “expert” solutions. Yet all too often, experts recommend solutions that fix immediate problems without addressing the systemic political factors that created them in the first place. Further, they produce an accidental collusion with “benevolent autocrats,” leaving dictators with yet more power to violate the rights of the poor. In The Tyranny of Experts, economist William Easterly traces the history of the fight against global poverty, showing not only how these tactics have trampled the individual freedom of the world’s poor, but how in doing so have suppressed a vital debate about an alternative approach to solving poverty: freedom. Easterly argues that only a new model of development – one predicated on respect for the individual rights of people in developing countries that understands that unchecked state power is the problem and not the solution – will be capable of ending global poverty once and for all.
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