The Bottom Billion

A cesspool of misery next to a world of growing prosperity is both terrible for those in the cesspool and dangerous for those who live next to it.

Unlike the challenge of global poverty reduction, the problem of the bottom billion will not be fixed automatically by global growth, and that neglect now will become a security nightmare for the world of our children.
- Paul Collier, “The Bottom Billion”

I recently read “The Bottom Billion” by Paul Collier. It’s an insightful book that gives a succinct analysis of why this poorest sixth of the world (including Ethiopia) is failing. In the struggle to understand the complicated effects of the era of globalization, misconceptions are paramount. I remember a time when I argued for more protection of these poor countries from the potential harms of global companies – the harms of an uncaring capitalistic world. I now realize the short-sightedness of this thought process, and of having a strong opinion without a basic understanding. In a short and stimulating 200 pages, the former director of Development Research at the World Bank and a current Oxford economics professor, Dr. Collier illuminates the problem.
Many of you have asked how you can best help the people that Lalmba serves. You have sent clothes and money and sincerely want to help the poorest of the poor. Erin and I are touched by this outpouring of goodwill. The challenge, as I see it, is to put our collective good intentions into meaningful and productive causes. As Collier argues, “It is time to re-define the development problem as being about the countries of the bottom billion, the ones that are stuck in poverty.” That is easier said than done. The development world is complex, and the experts of the field are often bitterly divided as to the solutions. To solve this most-pressing problem, we need to educate ourselves. Why are the poorest countries in the world still so poor? What possible solutions are there to help them out of poverty? Is aid the only solution? For the answers to these questions, I give you Paul Collier’s book. Pass it on…