The Elusive Quest for Growth: Economists’ Adventures and Misadventures in the Tropics
Article from: OGEL 1 (2003), in Book Reviews and Related Material
William Easterly
MIT Press 2001, ISBN 0-262-05065-X, 335 pages, Index, Bibliography, GBP 20.50 (through Amazon) Having worked 30 years in, with and for developing countries, I am still unsure what causes underdevelopment and what encourages development. At a recent conference in Amsterdam, presentation after presentation by well-meaning PhDs were loaded with philanthropic ‘good intentions’ for developing countries. What seems to have proved good for developed economies – work, incentives, frugality, markets, free trade, property and legal defences against rapacious states – ...