En Busca del Crecimiento : Andanzas y tribulaciones de los economistas del desarrollo

Since the end of World War II, economists have tried to figure out how poor countriesin the tropics could attain standards of living approaching those of countries in Europe and NorthAmerica. Attempted remedies have included providing foreign aid, investing in machines, fosteringeducation, controlling population growth, and making aid loans as well as forgiving those loans oncondition of reforms. None of these solutions has delivered as promised. The problem is not thefailure of economics, William Easterly argues, but the failure to apply economic principles topractical policy work.In this book Easterly shows how these solutions all violate the basicprinciple of economics, that people--private individuals and businesses, government officials, evenaid donors--respond to incentives. Easterly first discusses the importance of growth. He thenanalyzes the development solutions that have failed. Finally, he suggests alternative approaches tothe problem. Written in an accessible, at times irreverent, style, Easterly's book combines moderngrowth theory with anecdotes from his fieldwork for the World Bank.