Domain Name Com's The White Man's Burden: Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good

The White Man's Burden: Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good

Domain Name Com's - : The White Man's Burden: Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good

by: William Easterly

See Larger Image

List Price: $27.95

Our Price: $18.45

You Save: $9.50 (34%)
Prices subject to change.

Used Price: $2.04
Collectible Price: $28.95
Third Party New Price: $1.90

Availability: In stock soon. Order now to get in line. First come, first served.

This item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping.

Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 338.911713
EAN: 9781594200373
ISBN: 1594200378
Label: Penguin Press HC, The
Manufacturer: Penguin Press HC, The
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 448
Publication Date: March 16, 2006
Publisher: Penguin Press HC, The
Sales Rank: 26513
Studio: Penguin Press HC, The

Related Items:

Editorial Review:

Product Description:
An informed and excoriating attack on the tragic waste, futility, and hubris of the West's efforts to date to improve the lot of the so-called developing world, with constructive suggestions on how to move forward.

William Easterly's The White Man's Burden is about what its author calls the twin tragedies of global poverty. The first, of course, is that so many are seemingly fated to live horribly stunted, miserable lives and die such early deaths. The second is that after fifty years and more than $2.3 trillion in aid from the West to address the first tragedy, it has shockingly little to show for it. We'll never solve the first tragedy, Easterly argues, unless we figure out the second.

The ironies are many: We preach a gospel of freedom and individual accountability, yet we intrude in the inner workings of other countries through bloated aid bureaucracies like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank that are accountable to no one for the effects of their prescriptions. We take credit for the economic success stories of the last fifty years, like South Korea and Taiwan, when in fact we deserve very little. However, we reject all accountability for pouring more than half a trillion dollars into Africa and other regions and trying one "big new idea" after another, to no avail. Most of the places in which we've meddled are in fact no better off or are even worse off than they were before. Could it be that we don't know as much as we think we do about the magic spells that will open the door to the road to wealth?

Absolutely, William Easterly thunders in this angry, irreverent, and important book. He contrasts two approaches: (1) the ineffective planners' approach to development-never able to marshal enough knowledge or motivation to get the overambitious plans implemented to attain the plan's arbitrary targets and (2) a more constructive searchers' approach-always on the lookout for piecemeal improvements to poor peoples' well-being, with a system to get more aid resources to those who find things that work. Once we shift power and money from planners to searchers, there's much we can do that's focused and pragmatic to improve the lot of millions, such as public health, sanitation, education, roads, and nutrition initiatives. We need to face our own history of ineptitude and learn our lessons, especially at a time when the question of our ability to "build democracy," to transplant the institutions of our civil society into foreign soil so that they take root, has become one of the most pressing we face.

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- Review of White Man's Burden
Well researched and very well written critique of foreign development aid. Very useful in challenging the conventional wisdom of much strategic aid policy

Rating:

- How Global Aid became a Cash Laden Cow instead of a Thoroughbred Racehorse (or Bureaucracies eat oats too, don't they?)
Here, William Easterly lifts the veil of fog and proceeds to make a big dent in our collective ignorance about the "ways of global poverty" and in the process tells us what "not to do" in trying to surmount it. His trenchant critique gives a whole new meaning to the biblical philosophy: Give a man a fish and you feed him for one day, but teach him to fish and you feed him for a lifetime," as well as to the well-worn adage that "the road to hell many times has been paved with good intentions."
Read More

Rating:

- Want to understand the World?
I highly reccommend this book to anyone interested in understanding the world as it is. Economic, political, and historic factors make the world we live in, with the sharp contrasts inside and inbetween countries. Easterly efficiently describes why such constrasts exist, and what can be done to reduce inequality, at several levels (e.g. national policies, political programs, local development). For anyone interested in social development, or just in knowing why some people don't have food in their ... Read More

Rating:

- Easterly's usual rant
The main thing I do share with Easterly is his disdain for the rockers and the dreamers.

However, beyond that, the main theme of this book is a simple tautology--if it works according to whatever criteria he stipulates, it's a "Seeker," if it doesn't, it's a "Planner." And lo and behold, the Planners are the bad boys, because they never succeed. There is nary a recognition of the fact that if you want to "seek" to help the poor somewhere, there are always those pesky governments to deal with. ... Read More

Rating:

- Despite the title, a little to PC to be effective
Whilte the author has some important and sometimes hard-hitting points to make about foreign aid and its effectiveness (or lack thereof), it's obvious he still wants to get invited to the cool cocktail parties in New York. He correctly focuses on the aid community's penchant for big projects with no specific accountability vs. smaller, user-oriented ones. However, he seems obliged to maintain a veneer of "neutrality" by opposing military operations despite their proven success in cases like Japan and South ... Read More

Browse for similar items by category:

Qualifying Textbooks - Custom Stores - Specialty Stores - Books - General AAS
Economics - Business & Investing - Subjects - Books - Economic Conditions
Industries & Professions - Business & Investing - Subjects - Books - Nonprofit Organizations & Charities
Poverty - Current Events - Nonfiction - Subjects - Books - General
Poverty - Current Events - Nonfiction - Subjects - Books - General AAS

Domain Name Registration


	Register Domain Name
	Private Domain Registration
	Domain Name Auction
	Bulk Register Domains
	Transfer Domain Name
	Bulk Transfer Domains
	Manage Domain Names
	Email Accounts

Website Creator


	Website Creator Build Your Own Website
	Website Templates
	Mobile Website Templates

Website Hosting Plans


	Hosting Plans
	Dedicated Server
	Virtual Dedicated Server
	My Server - Account Login

Secure Server Certificates


	Introduction
	Technical Documents
	Purchase Secure Server SSL Certificate

Software


	MS Office Student
	QuickBooksPro 2008
	Digital Photo Editing How To Create a Foto Album
	HTML WebPage Editors
	Top Firewalls
	Networking Software
	Internet Security
	Local Area Networks
	Security & Firewalls
	Software Downloads
	Internet Utilities
	Children's Software
	Programming

Electronics


	MP3 Players
	Camera & Photo
	Office Electronics
	Computers & Ad-On's
	Handhelds & PDA
	GPS & Navigation
	Home Automations & Security
	Compare Prices on Electronics
	Ink & Toner Finder
	Monitors & Projectors
	Internet Webcams
	Blu Ray Disc Drive

Contact Information


	Office Locations
	Customer Feedback

Domain Names Electronics Software
Manage \| Register \| Email Login

Home \| Domain Name Registration \| Software \| Electronics \| Web Certificates \| About Us \| Contact Us \| Help