Description
Book SynopsisShows the impact of people's conduct, their cultural institutions, and the policies of their governments on economic progress. This book includes the process that transforms a subsistence economy into an exchange economy, the correlation between poverty and population density, and the alleged responsibility of the West for Third World poverty.
Trade Review"For half a century, Peter Bauer has been a towering iconoclast among development economists, consistently unafraid to demolish conventional wisdom with penetrating insight... [T]his excellent collection of essays... [is] a wonderful introduction to a mind that takes no prisoners."--The Economist "Whether or not the reader agrees with [Bauer's] positions, they are carefully and thoughtfully argued. "--Foreign Affairs "[Bauer] has also been interested in explaining the Zeitgeist which produced-and in many cases continues to project-the influential ideas and policies which are in such total disregard of readily observable reality. It is these reflections, contained in a number of essays in this book, which are likely to resonate with the general reader observing the contemporary world scene."--Deepak Lal, Times Literary Supplement
Table of ContentsIntroduction, by Amartya Sen ix I. From Subsistence to Exchange 3 II. Disregard of Reality 15 III. The Land and the People 28 IV. Population Explosion: Disaster or Blessing 30 V. Foreign Aid: Abiding Issues 41 VI. Western Guilt and Third World Poverty 53 VII. The Liberal Death Wish 73 VIII. Ecclesiastical Economics: Envy Legitimized 94 IX. Hong Kong 109 X. Effective Influence on Opinion: The Shenoy Memorial Lecture 116 XI. Class on the Brain 125 XII. Egalitarianism: A Delicate Dilemma 139 Index 149
