The Tyranny of Experts: Economists, Dictators, and the Forgotten Rights of the Poor - Hardcover

William Easterly

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0465031250 ISBN 13: 9780465031252

Publisher: Basic Civitas Books, 2014

Synopsis

Over the last century, global poverty has largely been viewed as a technical problem that merely requires the right "expert" solutions. Yet all too often, experts recommend solutions that fix immediate problems without addressing the systemic political factors that created them in the first place. Further, they produce an accidental collusion with "benevolent autocrats," leaving dictators with yet more power to violate the rights of the poor. In "The Tyranny of Experts," economist William Easterly, bestselling author of "The White Man's Burden," traces the history of the fight against global poverty, showing not only how these tactics have trampled the individual freedom of the world's poor, but how in doing so have suppressed a vital debate about an alternative approach to solving poverty: freedom. Presenting a wealth of cutting-edge economic research, Easterly argues that only a new model of development--one predicated on respect for the individual rights of people in developing countries, that understands that unchecked state power is the problem and not the solution --will be capable of ending global poverty once and for all.

About this title

Review:

Easterly delivers a scathing assault on the anti-poverty programs associated with both the United Nations and its political and private sector supporters....A sharply written polemic intended to stir up debate about the aims of global anti-poverty campaigns. --Kirkus Reviews

In this impassioned book, William Easterly draws on a wealth of examples from history and from around the world to support his forceful call for a radical transformation in the way the world views development. Easterly shows that many of the contemporary debates about the nature of development have their roots in history and he argues that the rights of the individual and democratic values should not be trampled on by those seeking faster economic growth. --Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Prize Winner, Professor of Economics at Columbia University

Bill Easterly is the development economist, and he has come up with yet another striking and original success. This is the book that puts together the role of government, the failures of experts, and the best way forward into one comprehensive package." --Tyler Cowen, Professor of Economics at George Mason University

Book Description:

"Bracingly iconoclastic.... William Easterly weaves together a number of sophisticated arguments."-New York Times Book Review

About this edition

• Publisher: Basic Civitas Books
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0465031250
• ISBN 13: 9780465031252
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 416