March 31, 2006
The white economist's burden
Today's Economist has a fairly positive review of William Easterly's book 'The White Man's Burden: Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good', which I'm still keen to get my hands on. It's hidden behind a subscription barrier, so here's the punch line:
Mr Easterly admits to feeling some compunctions about rubbishing a world in which he himself has spent much of his career, but it doesn't show. He is merciless and witty, damning the aid industry with its own words by quoting its past, broken promises back to it. His book is written more in wry bemusement than in anger, but perhaps anger is the more appropriate response. Certainly this reviewer felt a rising sense of frustration at the aid institutions, encamped on the high moral ground, with their eyes fixed on a distant horizon, all as an escape from taking a long hard look at themselves.
Posted by aheavens at March 31, 2006 4:53 PM