The Bottom Billion by Paul Collier discusses why the poorest countries are failing and then offers some insights and solutions to the problem. He says the four major problems in developing nations are: conflict, natural resources, bad neighbors, and bad governments. The conflicts are usually civil wars which have huge costs and the situation just becomes worse the longer the conflicts drag on. Collier states that countries rich in natural resources are often worse off than countries that are not, he attributes this problem to several different factors. One of the factors is that the resources open the possibility for conflict over the resources. Another factor is that if a country strictly focuses it’s on a specific natural resource then the other resources and industries might get forgotten and lose value. Being landlocked with bad neighbors can also be a large problem because it makes it almost impossible to be a part of world trade, so these landlocked countries have to depend on their neighbors for most of the trade and materials. A bad government can also be very destructive to a country’s economy, if they create unreasonable and restrictive policies. The smaller countries are also at a disadvantage because it is hard for them to get any investors, because the investors would much rather invest in well-known countries like India or China. After Collier stated all the problems he also offered up some possible solutions. He believed that aid agencies should concentrate
Underdeveloped countries need help from the privileged nations, but it is not mean that all of them should become rich countries’ dependents. On the other hand, the developed countries could support them with technology, quality control and new product development. Based on the aided information and technology, the developing countries could get better future development path. Third, the capacity of the lifeboat is misestimated. Although the poorer countries have larger population, rich nations obtain the majority of the world’s fortune and resources. In that case, rich nation’s supporting capacity is definitely much larger than that of the lifeboat, and these developed countries have the great ability to help more people in the world.
There are billions of dollars that developed countries give to the developing countries to say that they are helping the poor and that they are bring the poor countries up out of the dirt. But studies have shown that giving money alone does not help, it could actually make the country worse off. Foreign countries should not give money to developing nations because the developing countries become too reliant on the developed countries, it does not help the developing countries, and with money, comes corruption. The better way for foreign aid to work which is to give technological aid. A quote from Maimonides, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” This quote tells a tale of how society works and the importance of learning. This can be applied to a multiple of things like how a developed country needs to teach another country how to survive. The developed countries are just giving money and food instead of teaching the public about how to grow food and how to have a stable economy. Countries around the world that depend on foreign aid are now
Why is it so difficult for the poorest societies to get to a foothold on the development ladder?
Raw Materials Unavailability: Raw materials are less available or unavailable. It may be gathered from distance sources that incur high expenses. Poor infrastructure for production of product & services: Due to undeveloped mode of every sector , Production infrastructure is not suitable. Markets are not available: Market for products are not available. People want low cost product because they have less sources of income. Customers are less available for good products: High quality products are costly. They are not beared by customers because their purchasing power is low. More dependent families: Less people earn and more people want to consume. It means more people are dependent upon income generating members. Lands are not suitable for agriculture: Lands are mostly barren due to poor irrigation system, mismanagement of water, unavailability of modern agriculture methods application and tools, etc. People depend upon still upon ancient irrigation system. Cheap labors are available: Labors are easily available at low costs but they are mostly unskilled. So they are useless in technical works or in high rated projects.
The main point of Banerjee and Duflo’s Poor Economics (2012) is that aid is neither good nor bad: there are instances where it can help greatly and instances where it can fail those it seeks to help(4). Aid is a powerful tool, therefore it’s imperative that we carefully select the right types of projects (Banerjee & Duflo, 2012, p. 4-5). Banerjee and Duflo (2012) present a few key points of action as a framework for approaching aid, with the broadest issue being the idea that too much responsibility is placed on the poor in making the most basic decisions (268-69). One example that Banerjee and Duflo (2012) offer is the fact that many of the poorest people don’t have sanitary water
An innocent child begs her mother for food, a single tear running down her cheek. The fires of life that once filled the girl’s eyes slowly begin to fade. The mother embraces her child, tells her the pain will be gone within a few moments. As she holds her, she feels the warmth slip away; her little girl’s body becomes engulfed by empty coldness. So much could have been done to save that life, from local government support to foreign aid, yet not enough aid was given. And so, society is posed with the question of “How much aid should wealthy nations provide for developing countries?” This paper will look at the philosophy behind this question by analyzing two articles.
Throughout the world, many countries have found a way or a (niche) to which they (the country) can profit from global trade (import and export). This particular niche could be a multitude of things such as manufacturing (machining metals or developing electrical components) or agriculture (raising animals or growing plants) or raw minerals (metal ore or oil). Some countries are capable of doing almost all things listed above, but not all countries are capable of this. Which leads to my point, that some countries are setup better, whether it be land, technology, or the raw materials which lead to a thriving economy. Another variable for which the countries well-being can be affected is how that country’s government is setup (republic-democracy, communism, etc). Many will say that the United States is a rich country; however, I would have to completely disagree. For example, the national
This then relates into the fact that these resources in this area will be mishandled and used in non-beneficial ways. Poverty can be unruly and with these natural resources they can fall into the fight between using the responsibly r blowing it away in order to make the current moment better without thinking about the future. Surplus of resources is not always a good thing.
Unprecedented increases in living standards came with large increases in income inequality, both between countries and between individuals (p. 167). Too much inequality will create a wealth and power imbalance that stymies growth and development. Similarly, his acknowledgement of the fragility of the successes achieved in the developed world are prescient; there is nothing to say that the alleviation of poverty, deprivation, and poor health will continue forever, and any number of threats – including climate change, political failures, epidemics, and warfare – could bring it to an end. However, in the final chapter, titled “How to Help Those Left Behind”, his arguments are far less compelling. Deaton’s perspective on foreign aid and its efficacy is narrowly defined, and his claim that foreign aid is doing more harm to developing economies than good does not consider development successes that occur on the
Somalia has neither law nor solid punishment system. Columbia has a weak centralized government that fails to provide services that are considered essential .This does not look promising for people hoping to buy land. Monopolies is another big factor. They put all the cash flow to one place and discourage other companies for starting jobs, halting job and economic growth. Other economic troubles include debt, which is destroying current Greece, and inflation, which is why people stopped using Soviet money. Political struggle can destroy a country as well. The USSR fell when challenged by NATO and the United States. Political struggle can also be internal. Civil war tore apart Sierra Leone and is currently tearing apart Syria, Iran, and Iraq. Weak leadership has destroyed civilizations from the beginning of time, for some odd reasons people thought being the son of a ruler makes them qualified to rule.
Bad resources management leads to serious consequences. Neil Gilbert in his article, What Poverty Means, defines poverty as, "a level of subsistence that barely afforded sufficient food, lodging and clothing (85)." FAO states that around 870 million people out of the 7.1
Harvard Business School’s Case Study “Aid, Debt Relief, and Trade: An agenda for fighting World Poverty” outlines the steps, and missteps, that the world community has taken since World War II to address the efficacy of international assistance. The study focuses on international financial institutions (IFIs) and their ability to help poor nations break out of poverty and the possible obligations of rich, developed countries to assist the heavily indebted poor countries (HIPCs). Additionally, the study seeks to see if this assistance has been and can be parlayed into growth and investment for the HIPCs.
If Collier’s recommendations for reversal of decline are to have any weight, then these traps must be escapable, and they are (albeit very difficult to escape). However, many countries are finding once they escape these traps, they are trying to enter a global market that is already very productive and not easy for new countries to enter (Collier 6). However, despite Collier’s suggestions to reform the bottom billion, he acknowledges the fact that “The societies of the bottom billion can only be rescued from within” (Collier 96). Therefore, he creates instruments that the successful nations (specifically the G8 is his target audience) can implement to ensure the bottom billion are set up for success and able to reform their own countries into growing economies. The four instruments Collier suggests are aid, military intervention, laws and charters to standardize emerging markets, and trade reforms to ease transition into the global market (Collier Part 4).
In a world run by different resources, we will never have enough for ourselves. In the modern world, resources such as rare earth elements, oil, and water are always in demand. The United States of America alone consumes more resources and energy than it produces. But what about other nations? Some nations such as Japan, Great Britain, and South Korea are industrialized nations with many advantages over resources. Other developing nations such as Haiti, Ethiopia, Angola, and even Afghanistan are not as industrialized. Why? Many of the world’s resources is almost unable to reach the most poorest and unindustrialized parts of the world. This can be due to factors such as hostile terrorists, lack of transportation, lack of basic necessities and so forth. Unequal distribution of resources is not just a world issue but the reason why this exists is because literally, resources are used more than what is produced and it cannot uphold the current population of over seven billion. The issues concerning unequal distribution of resources towards poor parts of the world won’t stop others from solving this issue. There are already plans that are taken into action to help industrialize and strengthen the poor parts of the world.
Least developing countries are the countries which are poor in agricultural that are seeking to become more advanced economically and socially. Most of the countries are developing, less developed or Third World countries. However, the big difference in wealth and economic development amongst Third countries, the concluding are typically characterised by a low average per capita income, high external debt (to foreign banks and states in respect of loans acquired), a strong dependance on agriculture and other primary activities.