Russ Robert's guest on EconTalk this week is Oxford University Economics Professor Paul Collier, author of the recent book The Bottom Billion. This book is analysis of why the poorest countries in the world fail to grow. Collier talks with Roberts about conflict, natural resources, being landlocked, and bad governance; four factors Collier identifies as causes of the desperate poverty and stagnation in the countries where 1/6 of the world's poorest peoples live.
A point worth noting is that William Easterly is scheduled to appear on EconTalk in two weeks. He'll provide a different perspective on some of the same issues, as is demonstrated by his review (pdf) of Collier's book.
1 comment:
I'm surprised property rights doesn't make into the four. Perhaps its so obvious that it's given. Hernando de Soto's argument for their importance is compelling and I can't believe being landlocked prevents growth in anything like the same way that poor development and enforcement of rights does.
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