Reframing Poverty

Listen to Paul Collier reframe the challenge of global poverty and discuss four ways to provide hope for the “bottom billion.”

In The Bottom Billion, Paul Collier makes the case for devoting attention to 58 failing nation states.  The logic is straightforward:

1.  The vast majority of the world’s countries have growing economies:  while middle income countries still have distance to travel, they are already on the road to success.

2.  About 58 countries have stagnant, or declining economies.  They are headed in the wrong direction.

3.  The development complex traditionally frames the problem as ~5 billion poor out of 6.6 billion because larger numbers make stronger arguments for funding programs.

4.  Framing the challenge as 5 billion poor is not an accurate portrayal of global poverty since most of this population lives within countries which are growing economically.

5.  Framing the challenge as 58 failing nation states (and their 1 billion residents) is an accurate portrayal of global poverty because they are dirt poor and getting worse.  Looking to the future, the population living within these states will diverge from the rest of the world’s population.

Do you agree with Collier?

If so, how will you act differently with this knowledge?

If not, where do you see holes in his argument?

Most discussions about global poverty float around elite academic circles without including the voice of the impoverished themselves.  The World Bank set out to remedy this situation at the turn of the century through their Voices of the Poor campaign.

More than 60,000 voices from 60 countries were heard during this process.  Many criticisms are levied against the World Bank, and rightly so, but I think this campaign was spot on.  The team conducting the research drew six broad conclusions:

1.  The poor view poverty holistically and broadly, both on a physical, as well as a mental level. Many stated that poverty was like living in a cage and stated a general lack of opportunity.

2.  NGO’s received mixed ratings.  This was particularly useful feedback.  NGO’s are normally given a thumbs up by my generation; however, it is important to note that there are good and bad apples in the bunch!

3.  Insecurity and violence have increased. In short, this struck me because the poor feel as though things are getting worse and they have been hung out to dry by other economic opportunities.

4.  Gender inequality and domestic violence is widespread.  This one hurts especially because it is people causing the problem and I feel powerless to do anything about it.

5.  The poor want accountable governments.  Surprise surprise!

6.  The poor rely on an informal economy to survive.  Without clinics, they resort to the local holy man.  Without credit institutions, they resort to whoever will lend them money.  Without food, they turn to family.  This is changing around the world; however, formal institutions still do not exist to a large degree.

What do you think?  If you have traveled to a developing community, does this picture resonate with what you experienced?

Jeffrey Sachs and William Easterly are two of the most prominent thought leaders when it comes to foreign aid. Sachs advocates increasing foreign aid and channeling international development efforts through the UN. Easterly disparages Sachs’ plan as grandiose, top-down and ineffectual while advocating for piecemeal solutions. While they will not agree to debate face to face, we have done the next best thing: putting their interviews side by side.

Who do you think is right?

Sachs Video: Keep reading…

 Think you understand foreign aid?  Think again.

Hans Roslin, a global health professor, demonstrates the best 15 minutes of global poverty stats and international development I’ve ever seen.

If you had $50 billion, but only $50 billion to spend on solving the world’s most pressing problems, how would spend it?  Many approaches focus on the gravity of problems rather than the solutions we have at hand.  Yet the money we spend will be spent on our existing solutions, whether effective or not.  Bjorn Lomborg is a clear thinker whose message is to prioritize solutions rather than problems.  Why spend money on crappy solutions?

In this category, we promote books that we believe provide the best comprehensive introduction to global development. Our goal is to promote books that posit different solutions to the social problems of the world. At times these books contradict each other. At others, they don’t overlap at all, but rather focus on completely different methods for social change. Each book poses solutions to social problems, and are all related to finding solutions to poverty.

How to Change the World, by David Bornstein: This book illustrates a people-centered approach built around the concept of social entrepreneurship.

The End of Poverty, by Jeffrey Sachs: This book provides a macroscopic view of global poverty and maps a potential path, spearheaded by the UN, to end poverty by 2025.

The White Man’s Burden, by William Easterly: Here, William Easterly writes a critique of The End of Poverty, referring to past failed attempts to end poverty through a large scale planned effort.

The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid, by C.K. Prahalad: Prahalad points to the importance of wide scale involvement of the private sector in eradicating poverty.

This book discuss the increasing role of social entrepreneurs in the world. While social entrepreneurs have existed for centuries, the field of social entrepreneurship is a relatively new one. How to Change the World tells the story of Ashoka, an organization launched by Bill Drayton in 1980 which began to build some of the first infrastructure for the emerging citizen sector. If you are interested in studying pattern changing ideas that address social issues on a broad scale and the dynamic people who married themselves to those ideas to implement them, this is the book for you.

You can also read the book online here.

In the End of Poverty, Jeffrey Sachs outlines a plan to end extreme poverty by 2025. While sparking an international movement, the book has also attracted criticism from those who are wary of large scale aid efforts. Purchase this book here.