Wow! eBook
The Aid Trap: Hard Truths About Ending Poverty
Author(s): R. Glenn Hubbard (Author), William Duggan (Author)
- Publisher: Columbia University Press
- Publication Date: 1 Aug. 2009
- Edition: First Edition
- Language: English
- Print length: 240 pages
- ISBN-10: 0231145624
- ISBN-13: 9780231145626
Book Description
Two leading scholars of business and finance introduce a bold idea for the world’s poorest countries. Over the past twenty years, more citizens in China and India have raised themselves out of poverty then anywhere else at any time in history. They accomplished this through the local business sector& mdash;the leading source of prosperity for all rich countries. In most of Africa and other poor regions, the business sector is weak, but foreign aid continues to fund government and NGOs. Switching aid to the local business sector in order to cultivate an ordinary middle class is the oldest, surest, and only way to eliminate poverty in poor countries.A bold fusion of ethics and smart business, this book shows how the same energy, goodwill, and money that we devote to charity can help business save the world. By diverting a major share of charitable aid into the local business sector of poor countries, citizens take the lead in the growth of their own economies. While the aid system supports noble goals, a local well-digging company cannot compete with a foreign charity that digs wells for free. By investing in that local company, a sustainable system of development can take root.
Editorial Reviews
Review
Select Guide Rating
About the Author
R. Glenn Hubbard is dean of Columbia Business School and the Russell L. Carson Professor of Economics and Finance. He was chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors from 2001 to 2003 and has published more than one hundred articles on investing, banking, energy economics, and public policy. His most recent book is the bestselling Principles of Economics. William Duggan is senior lecturer in business at Columbia Business School, where he teaches strategy in graduate and executive courses. He has twenty years of experience in foreign aid, and his most recent book, Strategic Intuition, was named Best Strategy Book of 2007 by Strategy + Business.
