Book Review: The Bottom Billion by Paul Collier

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Paul Collier’s book is about the future of the world. Most of the world is on the positive trajectory set by growth and prosperity. The 21st Century is the age of the middle class. For most of the world, things are looking up. However, Collier is concerned with a group of countries that are not part of this trajectory. Collier is concerned with approximately 58 countries that constitute about one billion people, or 20 percent of the earth’s population (Collier 7). This “bottom billion” group belongs to countries that are not progressing with the rest of the world’s pace; in fact, they seem to be diverging and falling apart when everyone else around them are growing. The purpose of the book is to show these countries are, in fact, diverging. He shows them caught in four different “traps.” After proving this, Collier has the challenge of making the case for reform and what can be done to fix these countries and put them on the course towards growth and prosperity. Finally, Collier has to show why the western world should care about supporting these countries and reversing their decline and how their current poor trajectory represents a drain on the global economy and security environment. The Bottom Billion is written for a broad audience; essentially all citizens of democratic countries. Collier encourages action by all levels but recommendations are made for policymakers in G8 countries that are responsible and interested in achieving improvement for impoverished countries. At the root of Collier’s argument is the notion that all bottom billion countries are stuck in at least one of four developmental traps: conflict traps, natural resources trap, landlocked with bad neighbors trap, and bad governance in a small country trap (... ... middle of paper ... ...ook is an excellent survey of how the diverging countries of the world are stuck in their traps and potential avenues for action to ensure their progress towards developing countries. Works Cited and Referenced Batabyal, Amitrajeet A. "[Why The Poorest Countries Are Falling And What Can Be Done About It]." Journal Of Agricultural & Environmental Ethics 21.5 (2008): 507-510. OmniFile Full Text Select (H.W. Wilson). Web. 13 Mar. 2014. Collier, Paul. The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries Are Failing and What Can Be Done About It. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007. Print. Lipton, Michael. "Bottom Billion: Countries Or People?." Journal Of Development Studies 44.5 (2008): 750-760. Business Source Complete. Web. 13 Mar. 2014. Maxwell, Simon. "Book Review Symposium." Development Policy Review 26.1 (2008): 113-128. Academic Search Premier. Web. 13 Mar. 2014.

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