5 comments about Rethinking the Great Depression (American Ways Series).

1. Smiley discusses the cause the the Great Depression, and the effects of the New Deal in prolonging it. He summarizes the findings of the latest academeic research, over the past few decades. He does this well and quite clearly, in a non-polemical way.

   No math is involved.




2. Based on new theories, Smiley has re-examined and re-assessed the forces that led to and prolonged the Great Depression. In clear non-technical prose, he shows what happened and why.

   This short book (163 pages plus sources and index) is divided into five chapters. Chapter 1 gives a brief overview of how the worldwide depression began and how it created a domino effect throughout Europe and the U.S. Nothing new here-- in fact, this is basic stuff any high schooler should know.

   Chapter 2 is a more detailed examination of the economic crisis and the forces which led to it. Smiley explains the situation in basic terms that anyone can understand, allowing us to see the tragedy unfolding step by step.

   Chapters 3 and 4 show how President Roosevelt (who had little knowledge or experience of economics) attempted to pull the country out of this deep economic slump. Though some programs were successful, some were not, and only serve to create a depression within a depression in the mid-30s.

   Chapter 5 examines the legacy of the governmental response, and how economic policies initiated during this period has affected this country for decades afterward, and how certain government programs still exist long after their usefulness has passed. An examination of post-war analysis shows how Keynesian economic theory and government studies have misinterpreted the factors which brought this country back to recovery. He also examines the question of whether such an event can happen again, concluding that-- based on subsequent economic downturns-- it probably won't, though it can happen again should future leaders ignore the warning signs and lessons of the past.

   A fascinating and rewarding book, even for those who have little or no knowledge of economics.




3. Smiley has done a fantastic job with this book. It is well organized and very easy to read. He makes a statement and then follows up with the data and information necessary to support that statement. The second chapter on the cause of the great depression is my favorite and after finishing the book I went through that chapter again to really drill the information in. This book should be required reading for all college students. I normally give books away after reading them but I won't be giving this one away.



4. This is a brief and relatively easy to read monetarist review of 'the great depression'. It is unclear to what the title calls 'rethinking' might refer. My guess is that the author is rethinking Keynes, but it might be FDR. Since the difference between Keynes and monetarists is subtle to all but Keynesians and monetarists, I wouldn't recommend this as a introduction to the subject, nor as a survey.
   
   The text presents a matter of fact narrative, starting in 1929 and ending with the war efforts of 1940. The author find the source of economic contractions (recessions and depressions) in monetary policy established on a country by country basis. These contractions were caused by a shrinking money supply which could be correlated to effort to maintain a fixed relationship between gold and the national currency. Unaware of the relationship between money supply and economic goals (full employment, growth, etc), both Hoover and FDR made the necessary economic correction prolonged and painful. According to the author, the misguided new deal programs started by FDR have taken on a life of their own. The problems posed by 'New Deal' government programs consumes most of the concluding remarks. To end the book, Smiley writes "What failed in the 1930s were governments, in their eagerness to direct activity to achieve political ends... Attempts to stop international financial markets from working through the gold standard brough on the depression. Government efforts to combat the depression ... made the depression much longer and more severe in the United States. Governemnt attempts to reshape American society ... helped create a depression with the depression.'
   
   Though one might think this come across as a polemic against FDR and what the author calls 'socialism', the author takes pains to show that everyone, including all the economists, misunderstood the 'depression'. Despite his confident narrative, the author doesn't exclude himself in this assessment. In a telling comment near the end of the book, Smiley states 'Still, our continued inability to develop econometric models that can accurately predict contractions means that we will not be free of them.' In other words, argues that no one knows what caused the depression. All he can do is point out the errors of various theories.



5. This book is simple, clear and accurate. I've turned to it over and over again and can't recommend it too highly. Smiley is especially good when he gets to the second half of the 1930s. I have one copy at the office, one copy at home and carry one around in my backpack when there's room. Also great: Jim Powell's "FDR's Folly," "The Great Depression" by Thomas E Hall and J David Ferguson, Allan Meltzer, and of course Friedman and Schwartz. Superb but hard to get: Lester V Chandler.

5 comments about Flipping the Switch...: Unleash the Power of Personal Accountability Using the QBQ!.

1. I used this book for our annual staff retreat. It is great for employee development of personal accountability. This book has made a difference in the lives of my employees and subsequently in the culture of our company!



2. I think the book is so great that I purchased several copies for my employees to help them see what I saw...personal responsibility starts with ME! This books teaches you how to practically apply "giving" and "serving." It's about ME. I also think our politicians should read this book to learn what REAL personal responsibility is so that they can stop blaming the government for not doing enough.
   
   I'm responsible. It's about me. I change! It's not about them. It's MY life and I can change.



3. I liked the first book and it really got me thinking of all those IQ's in my life and how to get rid of them. I think I expected the same thing with this book but for whatever reason I came away feeling let down. It just seemed like less substance than the first and more of a fluff of highlights while trying to cling on to book 1. NOT a bad read but not as inspiring as the first.



4. Flipping the switch is a very enjoyable read in which the author John Miller is basically asking the question: Would you rather be part of the problem or the solution? To be part of the solution, all it takes, according to him, is a shift in perspective. Instead of asking "why me?" switch to "what can I do?". It is a simple shift, which takes you from the victim's chair into the driver's seat and allows you to experience satisfaction and transformation in all areas of your life.
   
   In this respect the book reminded me very much of the work of Ariel and Shya Kane Working on Yourself Doesn't Work: A Book About Instantaneous Transformation , How To Create a Magical Relationship and Being Here: Modern Day Tales of Enlightenment. The Kanes also present the idea that a shift in perspective can transform your life instantaneously and take you from the realm of working on yourself and thinking, to the realm of being yourself and being enlightened. Instantaneous Transformation is accessible when you flip the switch and choose to be present in the moment rather than lost in your thoughts.
   
   I highly recommend both the work of John Miller and Ariel and Shya Kane to anybody looking to live a "bright" life!



5. Flipping the Switch is a great follow up to QBQ. The concept of QBQ is great but to really make it a core value, it takes follow up and understanding on the part of the leaders. This book helps leaders to understand what is needed to make personal accountability a core value. It is a little more to think about than QBQ, but very helpful. It will be part of the whole package of personal accountability for me.

5 comments about The Elusive Quest for Growth: Economists' Adventures and Misadventures in the Tropics.

1. William Easterly is a former employee of the World Bank and has significant experience in development economics, so I was interested to find out what approach he recommended to help the poorest regions of the world increase their standard of living. Though he was very good as explaining what didn't work, solutions were less forthcoming.
   
   Easterly takes us on a tour of various strategies that have been employed in the past and were each touted as the "magic formula" that would jump-start poor countries on the path to wealth: investment in capital, development aid, education, population control, etc. For each of these solutions, he analyses the data and concludes that it was not the correct approach to reducing poverty. So what is?
   
   He doesn't really say. Easterly tells us that bad government, corruption and the twisted incentives that accompany both are what have doomed poor countries. Therefore, if we could simply install good government and weed out corruption, the problem would be solved! While a nice solution in theory, the difficulties in `encouraging' good government are well recorded in international history.
   
   The book interleaves chapters will short snapshots of the lives of the very poor, giving examples of the misery that has befallen them. These help to put a human face on the suffering but unfortunately the snapshots are not linked to the analysis (for example, the snapshot following the chapter on education has nothing to do with how a lack of education harmed this person).
   
   Easterly clearly cares about the poor, would like to help them, and is tired of seeing well-meaning westerners throw billions of dollars into projects that yield no real progress. But he has gotten us no closer to a solution either.



2. William Easterly, who worked as an economist for many years at the World Bank, tries to explain why many of the recipes economists devised for economic growth in the Third World didn't work out: neither foreign aid, neither greater expenditure in education, neither population control programs (among others) seemed to work. The reason, says Easterly, is that those recipes ignore a crucial truth in economics: people respond to incentives. None of these programs were devised in making people take advantage of economic growth. Much of the foreign aid was captured by corrupt rent seeking individuals, and very little of the aid trickled down to the poor. Besides, Easterly is very courageous in asserting that ethnic diversity can be detrimental to economic growth. Paradoxically, as I'm writing this (early 2008), emerging countries are going through an economic boom, thanks in great part to high commodity prices, so in some sense this book is a little out of date (it was first published in 2001). However, one wonders what will happen when commodity prices go down (as they inevitably will at some point) There was a high commodity price cycle in the early 70s, but when it panned out, it left the third world poorer and more indebted. In the case of India and China, however, since they have concentrated their production in goods and services with a higher added value, I think a continuing high path growth seems assured, so I'm more optimistic right now than Easterly was when he wrote this book.



3. I understand that it's a book written to be accessible to people like myself who are not economists and will NEVER be economists, but that does not mean I have to be treated like I am severely unintelligent. The reading level of this book falls far below what any college educated person should be expected to read. I don't think the author of this book is nearly as deserving of the high accolades (not to mention profits) he has been receiving for writing this book. When a book contains the phrase 'I think learning under the right circumstances is a very good thing' you know that the quality of the writing is deficient. It is elementary at best.



4. The Elusive Quest for Growth: Economists' Adventures and Misadventures in the Tropics by William Easterly is an honest answer to part of the question, "why hasn't the world improved like we thought it would?" Easterly conducts a post-mortem conference on western aid programs since the end of World War II, finding that in many cases we should have known better. The incentives created by some nations' economic environment, or the aid programs themselves led national economies into periods of stagnant or negative growth. Easterly's mantra is "people respond to incentives." Ignoring this truth, a central tenet of economics, has led to several irrational choices in the area of development aid, and many failures to achieve our objectives.
   
   While pessimistic at times in his evaluation of what we have done in the West, the truth behind the text is that all these problems are preventable. Overall, a valuable and essential piece of information in understanding the state of the world today in regards to differing economic outcomes and how it has come to be that way.



5. Easterly is a brilliant and talented writer, as one would expect from the World Bank. At times, though, the Bank is isolated from the benefits of being subjected to such talent. Individual efforts are certainly reviewed, but at the end of the day, Stiglitz and others have argued that the very points Easterly makes suggests that the Bank is far off the course set by its mandate. We are therefore left with yet another recommended "fine tuning" of WB programming without a serious reflection over whether the WB is the proper mechanism for fiddling with the intricate clockworks that are national economies. I sign off by asking the Americans, Britons, Australians, French, Swiss and others from "developed" countries what it would take to allow an autocratic, bureaucratic and politically un-accountable (and this series of adjectives in no way lessens the tremendous respect I have for nearly every WB staff member I've met) organization tip-toe into THEIR administrative systems. I argue that the problem with economic tinkering in the Pacific is that it is, and looks to remain, the product of bureaucratic meddling on a scale similar to Mao's China, which undermines both the development of governance systems that can curtail corruption (i.e. local acocuntability for performance based on available resources- NOT (!!!!!!) in any way similar to efforts to make local authorities better subsidiaries of the notably corrupt central governments as is currently being pushed in the Pacific and elsewhere) AND legitimate free market systems. This book is a fantastic read, and I highly recommend it be paired with Stiglitz's "Globalization..." and Jeffrey Sach's "End of Poverty..." for a very ponderous but enriching book club series.

5 comments about The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty Through Profits (Wharton School Publishing Paperbacks).

1. The author, C.K. Prahalad gives outstanding evidence that working to develop marketing strategies at the bottom of the social pyramid is a profitable business, besides of providing meaningful and practical ways to incorporate millions of excluded people on the modern world economy.
   
   The stories Prahalad includes on his book have more force and prove to be more succesful than the wasteful, gigantic and bureaucratic government programs that have been highly publicized in the past that have resulted as complete failures.
   
   In that sense the idea that Jeffrey Sachs explores on his book "The end of poverty" does not make any sense at all in practical terms, because only piecemeal solutions such as the one developed by Grameen Bank, for example, are the right answers to the quest for economic development.
   
   Prahalad's work goes in tandem with the magnifecent work done by William Easterly on his book "The elusive quest for growth".
   
   Let the people to be free to choose their own exit door from poverty, give them the means to do it by themselves, and not from the world development agencies desks.



2. The author has noble intentions and some of the arguments are persuasive. But something does not quite add for me:
   
   Solve third world poverty by making everyone consumers? Buy more plastic goods?
   
   Some of the cases are good stories and I am not against the idea...but something is missing here. What about the mass environmental impact?
   What about eradicating poverty but increasing impoverishment? Make everyone a consumer, eradicate their customs and culture, Americanize every Third World country by turning its native peoples into consumers. Sounds like a profitable enterprise for the MNCs--but not sure how much "Fortune" will be redistributed to the native peoples. I doubt much.



3. This is a great book for anyone serious about expanding their business, or starting their own business. It gives a real look at the world's poor. Every stereotype is wrong.



4. I learned about CK Prahalad and the BOP about two years ago doing a school project. I'm a graphic designer, so my approach is far removed from the typical business person's. After this project, I used this book to guide my senior project (design equivalent of a thesis), in which I made up a company that served the BOP in Venezuela and created a brand and packaging system for it. As a non-business person, it was sometimes challenging to follow the book, but it was not overwhelming. I agree with other comments that say that it was a bit technical (especially with all the abbreviations), but it was still approachable.
   
   I'd recommend this not just for business people and entrepreneurs. Poverty is a world-wide issue and this book shows new and innovative ways of dealing with it. We can find uses for this theory in many different realms and disciplines and the theory forces us to think outside of the box. I was especially appreciative of the non-subsidies and the notion that poverty alleviation can come from sustainably profitable operations. I also like the idea of environmental sustainability as a must when dealing with the vast majority of the world as consumers.
   
   I would also recommend "Out of Poverty" by Paul Polack. I liked Prahalad's position better, as Polack falls short in addressing exclusively money as a poverty factor and disregards life quality as something we should address; something that Prahalad does address. But Polack addresses an even poorer segment of the world and we can learn from both theories.



5. Rather than teaching the poor how to fish you should provide them with the information they need to reach a life beyond fish and rice. That goal is nicely laid out by author C.K. Prahalad in his wonderful volume "The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid."
   
   Prahalad correctly points out that it is the poor who stand most to profit from free, global markets. While that is true, the goal cannot be reached without a government being willing to assume a leadership role in making transactions easier for customers and accepting the responsibility of helping to create wealth rather than merely taxing wealth.
   
   Prahalad shares the belief of many that poverty and non-functional economies are not caused by Western dominance but by the inattention of the West. The author issues a call to change, insisting that business no longer can afford to neglect a market of 5 billion people who already are consumers and will help business generate even more profits once these 5 billion become more highly-informed consumers. It is information, not charity, that provides meaningful relief, stresses Prahalad, who calls upon business leaders to make meaningful and sustained improvements in the lives of billions of people.
   
   In case study after case study the author provides evidence for his premise that the win-win formula of innovation offers the dual function of helping the poorest of the poor while at the same time generating corporate profits.
   
   When you take a close look at India and its opportunities for successful business intervention, you see further evidence for Prahalad's assertion that the greatest potential for economic growth is in the billions of people living at the bottom of the economic pyramid.
   
   By Gunjan Bagla
   Author of Doing Business in 21st Century India

5 comments about Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future.

1. I must admit, I wasn't particularly enthused about "Deep Economy" when I picked it up... it was one of several shorter texts required for my senior seminar class as a business major. I'm so glad I stuck with it... because it's had a lasting impression upon me.
   I won't give all the details about the book... several reviewers have already done a great job with that.
   All I will say is that the issues that McKibben covers in "Deep Economy" are so very relevant, and I find that he has a way of cutting down to the very core of so many of the problems facing our society. I was mostly disaffected when I picked this up, and now I can say I've been transformed into an environmentally and economically responsible localvore. This should be required reading for everyone.



2. McKibbon's "Deep Economy" is a very readable history of industrialized economics coupled with a blueprint (albeit one that is unlikely to be followed) of how we might change our economic direction into one that is more sustainable and beneficial on an individual and communal level.
   
   The idea that most clearly sticks out to me in this work is that of the "quality of life index," which could also aptly be called the "happiness index." That happiness within a society can and should be quantifiable, and that as a quantity, it should be factored into the overall values of this or that economic program is an interesting one, and also one that seems worth exploring in economics classes as well as sociology ones.
   
   The focus on local business and production also serves as a rallying point for people on both ends of the political spectrum. While buying locally and organically appeals at surface immediately to the crunchiest of hippies, the boost of small business and the opportunities that McKibbin's plan offers swings the door open for the staunchest of the right-wing business class.
   
   This book, if not an obvious plan for going forward, serves at least to give all of us an opportunity to explore a world where our fundamental economic groundwork is altered. It is hard to put down, and once you do, it's hard not to let it challenge your traditional understanding of what the economy is and should be.



3. This book was required summer reading for me, but I would've read it even if it wasn't. It's a book with ideas people can believe in. It's not hard to understand and I enjoyed it very much. I've learned a lot and know that it will have an effect on what I think about, talk about and do with my every day life.



4. With Deep Economy, Bill McKibben delivers a book that challenges conventional economic and political wisdom. Simply put, we can no longer pursue unlimited growth while producing more and more stuff. This point is heavily underscored as we approach the upper bounds of Earth's natural resources and come to terms with the damage caused by operating under the current prevailing wisdom for over a century.
   
   McKibben points out that, while economic growth is beneficial up to a certain point, it fails to produce corresponding benefits when it passes that threshold. The increased wealth tends to accumulate in the pockets of those who are already wealthy, while the majority of people see little to no increase in income. The endless cycle of consumption tends to produce more inequality and insecurity, rather than prosperity and happiness.
   
   Luckily, McKibben proposes a solution to the dilemma: we should shift our focus from growing economies to growing communities. The pursuit of this goal will yield different rewards, but those rewards will be experienced on a fundamental human level.
   
   Many will view the examples cited in the book as too small to be meaningful, undertaken with an overly optimistic outlook that will be impossible to achieve. But change has to start somewhere, and in the present situation a little inspiration is welcome. Deep Economy provides that inspiration.



5. I'll grant that we're rendering the planet unfit for human habitation, and not just rhetorically, but because I agree with McKibben. But his solution to the dilemma -- localized economies, and less consumption -- beg a few questions. His solutions might be the answer, but he's disingenous in not acknowledging their downside, and he puts far too much faith in good intentions trumping the self-interest of the rich world.
   
   1. Can local economies work everywhere? Large-scale economies have made it possible for humans to live in many environments that could probably not otherwise support large populations. Los Angles, after all, is a desert.
   
   2. Those of us in rich countries have long been reluctant to sacrifice for the rest of the world, and in the US, even for our own countrymen. Why does McKibben think we'll start now? After all, the economic benefits of localization will accrue to others, not to us in the rich world. And won't an emphasis on local economies make us even less interested, if that's possible, in the fate of, say, Africans and Africa?
   
   3. McKibben has an absurd faith in neighborliness. For example, he claims that local currencies have no downside, because local governments won't issue more currency than they'd be willing to accept in payment of taxes and fees. But if national governments abuse the power to print money, why won't local governments?
   
   4. Small farms are more productive per acre, but less per person. This of course means many of us will be returning to the farm. How is that going to be sold to Americans?
   
   5. So I buy apples from a nearby farm because they taste better, even if they're more expensive. Why would I buy more expensive shoes from the nearby factory if they're no different from cheaper shoes from Vietnam?
   
   6. McKibben tells us how how horrible ecologically it would be if the Chinese lived like Americans do today. But of course they won't be able to; with the recent increases in commodity prices, even Americans can't continue to live like Americans. Increased demand for natural resources will prevent these horror stories from playing out.

5 comments about Banker To The Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty.

1. This audio book was absolutely wonderful. I found it really inspiring and engaging. I was really surprised by how interesting it was, I was afraid it would be a little dry but that wasn't true at all. I enjoyed every chapter. This book really did make me want to change my life, it gave me a lot to think about that I'm still working with. In fact I hope I never stop thinking about it and the issues it opened up.
   
   The reader was very good, he had enough inflection in his voice to keep it interesting, but did not over play the words. It was the sort of narration that provided a similar feeling to reading myself, where I could put my own emphasis and voice to the words and not be distracted by the an overly dramatic narrator.



2. Banker To The Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty
   This is a life changing book! This book will change the way that you think about poverty and how to end it. In this book, Professor Yunus tells of his own journey in first recognising that the University in which he lectured in Economics, needed to impact his local community, and secondly, doing something about it. The book has all of the elements of a good novel, humour, romance, and drama, but it is so much more. Buy this book, read this book, and then join Kiva.org to make a difference.



3. A well written book about how Yunus successfully lent money to impoverished people in Bangladesh and, in so doing, empowered them to create better lives for themselves. The pages echo Yunus's faith in the human spirit, his dedication to eradicating poverty, and his tenacity to succeed in the face of naysayers cries. He talks about the origins of the banks name, The Grameen Bank and notes that Grameen derives from the word gram, or village.
   
   Yunus denounces typical methods of poverty reduction, such as those that tie funds to skills training. And he acknowledges that he has critics in this regard. He writes, "I firmly believe that all human beings have an innate skill. I call it the survival skill. The fact that the poor are alive is clear proof of their ability. They do not need us to teach them how to survive; they already know how to do this. So rather than waste our time teaching them new skills, we try to make maximum use of their existing skills. Giving the poor access to credit allows them to immediate put into practice the skills they already know - to weave, husk rice patty, raise cows, peddle a rickshaw." (p. 140).



4. On a recent flight, I read an outstanding book called Banker to the Poor Microlending and the Battle Against World Poverty by Muhammad Yunus. Muhammad taught economics at the University of Bangladesh and saw the poverty around him and felt that that his theoretical work at the university was not solving the problem. What he saw was the small amounts of money loaned to people to allow them to start their business or raw materials could have a huge impact.
   
   He started Grameen Bank and started making micro-credit loans to people in groups using the social pressure to make sure everyone repays their loans. His first loans he saw that 42 people needed $27.00 to buy raw materials and this was his first loan. He had tremendous success repaying the loans and has since grown to almost 2,000 branches and a staff of 11,000 which has loaned $3.9 billion with a recovery rate of 98%.
   
   Impressive results with limited resources.
   
   This is a true book of hope and definitely worth reading.



5. This books shows us that the lack of access to credit for the poorest of the poor is possibly as bad as lack of food. Without some access to credit they have absolutely no chance to ever get out of the revolving situation that will absorb then and their children. It's a vicious cycle of poverty that will be perpetuated unless they are given a chance to break it. And they all want to break it. Not for themselves, but for their future generations, which will incrementally improve their situation.

5 comments about Development as Freedom.

1. Nobel Prize winner Amartya Sen strikes a beautiful balance here between socialists, who have their hearts in the right place but refuse to accept that the market is the best way to help people, and libertarians who believe in freedom but don't acknowledge that being poor limits your freedom as well. Hailing from India, Sen's focus is on development economics with a view on helping the world's poorest.
   
   At the centerpiece of Sen's philosophy is freedom: He believe that freedom of action and life is the most fundamental human right. His philosophy comes very close to the "Four Freedoms" articulation of FDR in that he believes both in active freedoms (of labor and exchange, for example) as well as freedom from want, which can be brought about by state assistance. In addition, he also believes that giving people freedom is the best way to bring about progress: hence the title, development as freedom.
   
   Some sections of the book read as economics, some read as political philosophy, and some read as a modern history. Sen explains why there has never been a famine in any functioning democracy, even though some of them have been among the poorest nations on Earth. He also advocates convincingly for the education and emancipation of women.
   
   So far I have only good things to say about this book, but I didn't really enjoy reading it and only got through it because I was on a transatlantic flight. Why? Simply put, the writing in the book is painful. Not second-language painful: Sen clearly masters the English language, has an extensive vocabulary and is comfortable with his subject matter. The problem is that the writing is too obtuse: adverbs and obscure words abound, phrases drag on and it's sometimes difficult even for an absorbed reader to figure out what exactly is being said. One simple example: "But while the causal relation is indeed significant, the vindication of freedoms and rights provided by the causal linkage is over and above the directly constitutive role of these freedoms in development." Such sentences abound.
   
   No argumentative book is perfect, and I sometime disagreed with Sen's arguments such as when he attacked utilitarianism. Overall, however, Sen has put together a coherent economic philosophy that focuses on results and seems to be in line with what works in the real world. If you can get through the heavy, opaque writing, then there are great insights to be gleaned from this book.



2. This is a good book by great economist. But, if you are not an economist, like me, you may suffer a bit through the general discussion on economic philosophies through the first few chapters. Once into the later part of the book where modern case studies and data illustrate his point, I found his argument very deep and interesting.
   
   Amartya Sen chooses to describe poverty not as a lack of resources, but as a lack of freedoms. Those freedoms include choosing where to live and work, with whom to associate, freedom to choose our leaders and decide the rules we live by, and many others. This key point is useful in that it does not focus solely on maximization of wealth as a way out of poverty. The problem with poverty is not lack of money, but that lack of money means that people are not free to make their own way in life. They may be trapped being at the mercy of nature, an opressive government, or an economy cripled by bad policy. The conclusion therefore, is that money alone cannot fix the real problem. Government reform, economic liberalization, and the general increase of personal freedoms is the true end we are striving for. Increasing incomes is one of several necessary steps to be accomplished and not an end in and of itself.
   
   Sen's thesis in this work is often reduced by others to simple phrases like "democracies never have famines" or other simplistic phrases that are not entirely accurate with what Sen is actually arguing. You can find exceptions to some of these simple summaries, but the whole of Sen's argument remains very compelling describing the roles and responsibilities of individuals, institutions, and governments in achieving development and real progress.



3. If you only have a passing interest in development theory, you may find this book terribly boring and hard to read. Certainly, he doesn't go out of his way to be entertaining.
   
   But if you are looking for real innovation in thought and discussion on this issue, then this book is a must read. It really added a new voice to the discussion of international development, and is oft cited and referred to in papers on the topic.
   
   If you want to get up to speed on the modern debate on development theory, pick this up, read it, critique it in your own mind, really think about it, and move on.



4. Amartya Sen's book answers a question that current development practices beg: Development for the sake of what? He provides grounding for his claim that freedom is both the process to vibrant development, and the goal.
   
   Sen distinguishes his speculative new approach on economic development, from the most traditional:
   
   * Approaches that focus their attention in achieving some levels in development's proxy variables - per capita income; income distribution and poverty levels or health, education, and safety indexes-
   * Approaches based in levels of social satisfaction (levels of utility) based in individual/subjective "maps" of preferences.
   * And finally, others approaches focused in the capacity of a particular community to achieve what Sen calls substantive freedom -centralized welfare approach- or procedural freedom -libertarian approach-.
   
   
   Sen speculation seems to be relevant in many ways:
   
   1. First, there is no doubt we are in a moment of enormous changes and mayor crises. Our mass production, oil based civilization is coming to an end with all the resistance, violence and waste it implies. Our national democracies -and its institutions such as legislation, justice, presidency and other more decentralized as media, lobbyist networks, or intelligence- have showed significant weaknesses in addressing global issues, and a systematic tendency to favor elites' games. There are mayor power shift opening the space for extended cultural re-valuations of values based in the emerging preeminence of China and India.
   2. Second, there is an emerging new universe hold together by the internet and it capacity to sustain digital communities and digital worlds that have proved that is possible to create massive and sophisticated non-market value. These emerging universes embody a new culture of collaboration that is influencing and been influenced by the traditional forces of the molecular world. The technological force nurturing these changes has many resemblances with the historical opening produce by Gutenberg print press in 1450.
   3. Third, there is some resignation with the current technocratic approaches to development such as those represented by Jeffrey Sachs.
   4. Fourth, the collapse of the old order and the emergence of a new order may damage the possibilities to express the ethical ideals of the modern civilization -individual freedom- by enforcing control with new technologies and old institutions, or it may contribute to create a new Digital Renascence, or it may bring something new we are no able to see yet. A new understanding of freedom and human agency.
   5. Putting at the center of the economic development conversation -as Sen does- the notion of development as expanding freedom, the notion of freedom itself, and the expansion of freedom to non-human life it seems to be a powerful tribute from the best of the past to the emerging and unbirth future. Sen is bringing a new invigorating perspective to an old conversation.



5. Development as Freedom dives into the concept that both the result and mechanism of development is the growth of actual freedoms that people enjoy. It is no good to be rich slave.
   
   The book dives headfirst into various development theories that both support and oppose this idea and Amartya Sen navigates them all with ease. He does a great job explaining varying economic theories to someone like me who has no economic background. If you are interested in international development work this is a must-read.

5 comments about The Innovator's Dilemma: The Revolutionary Book that Will Change the Way You Do Business (Collins Business Essentials).

1. It is the typical manager's nightmare. A startup with a powerful idea wipes out all the dominance your large ogranisation had. It can happen overnite and without warning.
   
   How do you stop this nightmare from happening? Well, the answer could lie in The Innovator's Dilemma.
   
   Kishore Dharmarajan
   Author of Eightstorm: 8-Step Brainstorming for Innovative Managers



2. This book is highly engaging and actionable and helps companies understand how innovation is powerful and long-lasting. I also recommend "Something Really New" which was just released as another powerful resource on innovation in companies. Something Really New: Three Simple Steps to Creating Truly Innovative Products



3. With the Innovator's Dilemma, Clayton Christensen delivers a very powerful analysis of the role of innovation in gaining market leadership. The question raised is whether market leadership can be sustained through innovation alone. Indeed, the core of the Innovator's Dilemma illustrates how successful companies with established solutions, marquee customers and a valued brand keep being threatened and at time vanquished by start-ups. A recent example would be how established enterprise software vendors have been shaken up by disruptive startups: Remember Salesforce.com vs. Siebel Systems? Christensen addresses a difficult problem that most successful customer focused companies face. Precisely, because it is a formidable challenge for an established company to bring disrupting technology to its own installed base of customers.



4. This book analyzes why established successful companies repeatedly miss "less sensible" (to their own value network) innovations in the low-end "emerging" market and how products in the low end market eventually displace existing products in the entire market. The book does a comprehensive analysis of the phenomena.
   
   However, I am not convinced with the analysis. People make wrong forecasts of trends and miss emerging markets for many reasons. New entrants fail in trial and error with this extremely high risk game. Does it make sense for an established company to maintain an independent unit for playing this high risk game at a considerable expense? Or should they be the follower and let small companies bear the initial high cost ? I don't think there is a clear answer like what the author has suggested.
   
   There are some uncommon and incorrect use of technology terms (e.g. Java "protocol",computer "automated "design), which let you doubt the credibility and seriousness of the author. The writing is in fairly academic style with great clarity. But it can be repetitive in many places, revisiting the same materials.



5. OK, I admit, some of it can be a bit boring, especially the first couple of chapters. But the premise and his argument are great.
   
   A product manager who has not read this book is not a product manager at all!

5 comments about The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time.

1. You, being a smart person who is up on contemporary debates in economics and development and/or are a reader of Vanity Fair, probably already know all about Sachs and this book.
   
   Sachs made his name giving "shock therapy" to various third world economies. He recommended they jack up interest rates, and pushed them towards neo-liberal free market structures. His career hit a bit of a bad patch when he was associated with the economic meltdown of the former Soviet Socialist Republic. This book is his recommendations for development in Africa.
   
   Sach's ideas at base are pretty simple - Sub Saharan Africa needs lots and lots more aid. This aid should be put to use curing easily defeatable diseases and establishing local agrarian and, eventually, manufacturing economies. Oh, and right wing type who say that more aid won't fix the problem are wrong. That's about it.
   
   I think Sach's has this all about half right. More aid is a good idea, but alone, and in the style he suggests, I doubt it will lead to an end to poverty. Paul Collier's more nuanced book The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries are Failing and What Can Be Done About It, which I just finished, and will review soon, gives a better battle plan for dealing with seriously troubled countries. Sach's plan is a little too throw-money-at-the-problem for me.
   
   Still, this book is worth a read. If you're going to talk about world poverty now a days (and I tend to talk about world poverty a lot), you going to have to know what Sach is up to. He is by far the biggest name in the field. He may not always be right, but he's the player that you need to know about.



2. The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Out Time by Jeffery Sachs, is an optimistic, forceful argument for the economic potential of developing countries and the necessity of increased in aid from rich countries to realize it.
   
   Jeffrey Sachs is an accomplished macro-economist, currently at Columbia University, who has experience helping poor countries get on track to development. While, often described as left-leaning, he makes strong cases in favor of free-trade, market forces, and the role of the private sector in achieving economic development. He does often tout his own success regarding recommendations for economic reforms that enhanced development in impoverished. However, given the overall pessimistic attitude that many have towards real, subtantial economic development in these difficult places, I am not so sure it was out of place.
   
   While, I have a certain amount of skepticism towards Official Development Assistance, ODA, that Sachs makes a case for. His argument is compelling, especially in areas like health and education, that do not have a history of being served well by market forces alone. Even in infrastructure development, while rich countries now rely on significant private sector involvement, during their initial development stage, it was entirely a public endeavor.
   
   In the end, I am more willing to accept Sachs' argument that ODA is an essential part of what poor countries need to achieve sustainable economic development. I am in entire agreement that promises we make as a nation need to be fulfilled, and not given lip service. The other option is to not make those kinds of promises, but the current situation is dishonorable with regard to the gap Sachs illuminates between the United States' promised aid and the United States' actual aid to developing countries. I do think we need to hear more about technological innovation and technology transfer, that Sachs seems to assume will happen if the proper economic conditions are established. I am not yet convinved of that. Also, I still believe that the devil will be in the details as far as ODA is concerned, and if not executed properly we could easily establish incentives for those participating on both sides of the divide that work against our real objectives.
   
   And lastly, I should add, I found the foreword by Bono of U2 to be very thoughtful and eloquent on the subject. I was more suprised than I should have been, I suspect.



3. Jeffrey Sachs uses his broad knowledge to frame the context of a call for action to end extreme poverty in our generation. He demonstrates through detailed statistical comparisons the evolution of the widening gap of economic opportunity between the world's regions, and provides interesting narrative examples to support his conclusions.
   
   Although the statistics sometimes are mind-numbing, Sachs does a good job of creating graphical representations in the form of world maps, which serve to educate the reader and demonstrate the often overlooked connections between health, education and economic development. He has "done his homework" in providing a wealth of historic perspectives on the problems we observe in today's economy.
   
   Sachs uses his groundwork effectively as a springboard to inspire our thinking about how we can help create a better world by doing relatively simple things. Again, he uses the narrative to demonstrate how small amounts of money, medicine or appropriate technologies, delivered to the point of need, can make a huge difference in the outcomes for people living in or near extreme poverty.



4. the man who has brought destruction to the Russian economy through the "shock therapy" and preparing the ground for his zionist jewish friends in Russia to own all the key national assets, now goes on to tell us what to do with the rest of the world...his books should be prohibited



5. I read. A lot. That said, only half this book is worth the time and energy it took me to read it. The middle half, to be specific. The first few chapters are dedicated to Sachs detailing to us that, no, he's not an idiot writing about something he's had no experience with and that, yes, he can help to solve macroeconomic problems. The end chapters are all Sachs recapping what he said in the rest of the book with charts and graphs that start to become meaningless if you're not a economist or a student with a couple econ classes under your belt. The middle, in my opinion, is the only redeeming part of this book that mentions far too often big-names Sachs has met and important jobs he's held. The middle actually talks about his plan for ending extreme poverty by 2015 and how we can do it. The rest of the book is just padding. So read chapters 8 - 15 if you want to "read" the book. Donate money to an NGO if you want to do something towards ending poverty with your time.

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

1. The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries are Failing and What Can Be Done About It
   
   Paul Collier wrote this book with all the facts on the table.
   He understands what he is talking about. As an African I couldn't agree more
   with what he wrote. He has laid out the 4 major traps that poor countries(countries with slow growing economies) are faced with.Paul Collier states that these four traps are:
   
   -The Conflict trap
   -The Natural Resource trap
   - Being Landlocked with Bad Neighbours
   - and Bad Governance in a small country
   
   He goes on to explain how poor states can be helped out of these traps.This is a great book that everyone who cares about the poor must own. It offers strong solutions that the world community must take seriously and work hard to implement. This book was well researched for. Great Book.Great work Paul Collier. I'd forever keep this book.



2. 
   I love books like this. I am not a development expert not involved in international business nor government. Just a average middle class guy who tries to think beyond the bounds of my little world.
   
   Can't argue whether anything he put on these pages is wrong or right. It's engaging writing and I often found myself pausing to ponder some point Collier makes. All-in-all, a great read.
   
   One additional note: The first chapter is very wonkish...lots of statistics and figures. It may put you off and keep you from reading further....if so just skip to Chapter 3. You can still get the gist of Collier's argument.



3. Collier is a serious scholar in the world of development and here he has written a very important book. Here is the basic argument - while it sucks to be poor in countries like India, India is heading for relative prosperity. Where is really, really sucks to be poor is in a number of countries, concentrated in Africa where there is little hope of breaking out of a cycle of severe poverty. Collier pinpoints four ways in which these countries stay at the bottom - (1) they are racked by civil wars; (2) they're rich in a specific natural resource which stifles economic group in other areas; (3) they are surrounded by awful neighbors; and/or (4) they are a small country which is consistently horrifically governed. Collier proposes a number of concrete steps to deal with some of these problems, steps which I find to be realistic if perhaps politically unlikely at times. For example, Collier is totally in support of military intervention, of course he thinks there is a right way and wrong way to do it, but still, you're not hearing Jeff Sachs talk about sending in guns to cure poverty and with the disaster that has been the Iraq war, I think it will be a long time before the developed world is interested in dangerous humanitarian missions.
   
   This is the book of a man who has spent a long time in world of bureaucracies whose mandate is to fight poverty, and some of Collier's ideas are a bit gun-ho in reaction to what he rightly thinks is a lack of will power from the developed world. I don't think all of his ideas are good ones, and many of them I think are unlikely given the developed world's current lack of commitment to fighting poverty, but if you have any interest in development and poverty reduction you have to read this book.



4. What do we do with them?
   
   Prof. Collier of Oxford University, has done years of research, publishing, conferences, on this topic. Yet, one-size- fit-all solution never came up.
   
   With civil war, ethnic conflict, fighting for natural resources, bad governance, bad neighbors, military power, aids from G8, law, trade policy issues, one would think that the solution is not possible.
   
   What is needed is to have a strong and capable leadership at the top. With a strong leader, the country can change.
   
   We need to focus on a group of countries at a time. G8 countries are drilling oil, gas, and minerals in Africa now. China recently sent 500,000 to Africa to build highway, bridges, telephone systems, etc.
   It is possible to accomplish.
   
   But this book does not include any of the African success stories.
   Everyone knows the problem. But the solution is the most important for the bottom billions.



5. I really enjoyed this book. Paul Collier has taken what is a very complex issue and presented it in a concise view of the situation of the "Bottom Billion" which many of us do not really understand. Collier and his colleagues have done an enormous amount of research and analysis and have distilled that into a compelling read for anyone who worries about what's happening to our world.
   
   To me, the book shed light on the difficulty faced by the "Bottom Billion" and how, with the best of intentions, Aid organisations, the World Bank, IMF, European Union, USA, regional bodies etc can still not achieve an improvement in the lives of these people. Coordination is the key, and that is far easier said than done - and I am just wondering how the author is working to get this "Bottom Billion" discussion tabled. It would be great to follow any progress made - and I hope, for the sake of a billion lives, there is progress.