"The End of Poverty", "White Man's Burden"

[Guy Berger]

Anybody else read these books? Both are written about foreign aid and its potential gains, or lack thereof, by two economists. The End of Poverty, by Jeff Sachs is very optimistic about the potential for foreign aid; The White Man's Burden: Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good is more skeptical, at least on a macro level. I find Easterly's style to be somewhat more engaging and probably more education about development issues in general. Both are worth reading if you have a lot of spare time and are interested in the issue, though if you want to save some time just read a summary online. Both are readable by the layman. Sach's book is a bit egocentric (all the places I've been blah blah blah).

Guy

Edited February 21, 2007 by Guy