The White Man's Burden: Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good

( 14 )
Pick Up In Store

Pick Up in Store

Reserve and pick up in 60 minutes at your local store

Paperback (Reprint)
$14.98
BN.com price
$17.00 List Price (Save 12%)
Marketplace (New and Used)
from
$5.55
$17.00 List Price (Save 67%)
Usually ships in 1-2 business days
All (43)  
Used (19)  
New (24)  
Close
Sort by
Page 1 of 5
Showing 1 – 10 of 43 (5 pages)
$5.55
(Save 67%)
Penntext
Seller since 2012

Feedback rating:

(292)

Condition:

New — never opened or used in original packaging.

Like New — packaging may have been opened. A "Like New" item is suitable to give as a gift.

Very Good — may have minor signs of wear on packaging but item works perfectly and has no damage.

Good — item is in good condition but packaging may have signs of shelf wear/aging or torn packaging. All specific defects should be noted in the Comments section associated with each item.

Acceptable — item is in working order but may show signs of wear such as scratches or torn packaging. All specific defects should be noted in the Comments section associated with each item.

Used — An item that has been opened and may show signs of wear. All specific defects should be noted in the Comments section associated with each item.

Refurbished — A used item that has been renewed or updated and verified to be in proper working condition. Not necessarily completed by the original manufacturer.

Good
May have minimal notes/highlighting, minimal wear/tear. Ships same or next business day. Stay classy San Diego!

Ships from: Downingtown, PA

Usually ships in 1-2 business days

  • •Standard, 48 States
  • •Standard (AK, HI)
  • •Express, 48 States
  • •Express (AK, HI)
$5.57
(Save 67%)
Bunches of Books
Seller since 2006

Feedback rating:

(6084)

Condition: Very Good
First Edition. 2007 Paperback. Orders usually ship on or before next business day. May have highlighting. We send best copy available.

Ships from: Murray, KY

Usually ships in 1-2 business days

  • •Standard, 48 States
  • •Standard (AK, HI)
  • •Express, 48 States
  • •Express (AK, HI)
$7.98
(Save 53%)
Reader's Cove Bookstore
Seller since 2011

Feedback rating:

(17)

Condition: Good
2007 Trade paperback Annotated. Good. No dust jacket as issued. Book is in okay condition, some creases. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 436 p. Contains: Illustrations. ... Audience: General/trade. Read more Show Less

Ships from: Fort Collins, CO

Usually ships in 1-2 business days

  • •Canadian
  • •International
  • •Standard, 48 States
  • •Standard (AK, HI)
  • •Express, 48 States
  • •Express (AK, HI)
$8.66
(Save 49%)
Extremely_Reliable
Seller since 2007

Feedback rating:

(3210)

Condition: Good
Buy with confidence. Excellent Customer Service & Return policy.

Ships from: Richmond, TX

Usually ships in 1-2 business days

  • •Canadian
  • •International
  • •Standard, 48 States
  • •Standard (AK, HI)
$9.17
(Save 46%)
BetterWorld - Textbooks
Seller since 2006

Feedback rating:

(4990)

Condition: Good
Shipped by Better World Books. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Shipped to over one million happy customers. For ... California residents, the list price includes applicable sales tax. Read more Show Less

Ships from: Mishawaka, IN

Usually ships in 1-2 business days

  • •Standard, 48 States
  • •Standard (AK, HI)
  • •Express, 48 States
  • •Express (AK, HI)
$9.17
(Save 46%)
BetterWorld - Textbooks
Seller since 2006

Feedback rating:

(4990)

Condition: Very Good
Shipped by Better World Books. Great condition for a used book! Minimal wear. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Shipped to over one million happy customers. For California residents, the ... list price includes applicable sales tax. Read more Show Less

Ships from: Mishawaka, IN

Usually ships in 1-2 business days

  • •Standard, 48 States
  • •Standard (AK, HI)
  • •Express, 48 States
  • •Express (AK, HI)
$9.34
(Save 45%)
Books Any
Seller since 2010

Feedback rating:

(1917)

Condition: New
2007 Trade paperback Annotated. New. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 436 p. Contains: Illustrations.

Ships from: Valley Stream, NY

Usually ships in 1-2 business days

  • •Canadian
  • •Standard, 48 States
  • •Standard (AK, HI)
  • •Express, 48 States
  • •Express (AK, HI)
$9.65
(Save 43%)
Great Book Deals
Seller since 2008

Feedback rating:

(12288)

Condition: New
Absolutely Brand New & In Stock. 100% 30-Day Money Back. Direct from our warehouse. Over 5+ Million Customers served. In business since 1997. Happy Customers is Our #1 Goal. ... Customer Service toll free upport Monday-Friday EST Hrs. 4 to 14 business day Delivery Time by US Post Office. Read more Show Less

Ships from: Oldsmar, FL

Usually ships in 1-2 business days

  • •Standard, 48 States
  • •Standard (AK, HI)
$9.76
(Save 43%)
PaperbackshopUS
Seller since 2009

Feedback rating:

(4796)

Condition: New
Shipped from US in 4 to 14 business days. Established seller since 2000

Ships from: Aurora, IL

Usually ships in 1-2 business days

  • •Standard, 48 States
  • •Standard (AK, HI)
$9.76
(Save 43%)
ExpeditedBooksUS
Seller since 2010

Feedback rating:

(889)

Condition: New
Shipped from US. Express shipping in 3 to 6 business days. Standard shipping in 4 to 14 business days. Established seller since 2000

Ships from: Aurora, IL

Usually ships in 1-2 business days

  • •Standard, 48 States
  • •Standard (AK, HI)
  • •Express, 48 States
  • •Express (AK, HI)
Page 1 of 5
Showing 1 – 10 of 43 (5 pages)
Close
Sort by
NOOK Book (eBook)
$13.99
BN.com price

Available on NOOK devices and apps

  • Nook Devices
  • NOOK
  • NOOK Color
  • NOOK Tablet
  • Tablet/Phone
  • NOOK for iPad
  • NOOK for iPhone
  • NOOK for Android
  • NOOK for Android (Tablet)
  • NOOK Kids for iPad
  • PC/Mac
  • NOOK Study
  • NOOK for PC
  • NOOK for Mac

Want a NOOK? Explore Now

More About This Book

Overview

From one of the world’s best-known development economists—an excoriating attack on the tragic hubris of the West’s efforts to improve the lot of the so-called developing world

In his previous book, The Elusive Quest for Growth, William Easterly criticized the utter ineffectiveness of Western organizations to mitigate global poverty, and he was promptly fired by his then-employer, the World Bank. The White Man’s Burden is his widely anticipated counterpunch—a brilliant and blistering indictment of the West’s economic policies for the world’s poor. Sometimes angry, sometimes irreverent, but always clear-eyed and rigorous, Easterly argues that we in the West need to face our own history of ineptitude and draw the proper conclusions, especially at a time when the question of our ability to transplant Western institutions has become one of the most pressing issues we face.

Editorial Reviews

From Barnes & Noble
Most readers are familiar with the grim litany of global poverty: Each day, 30,000 children die of starvation; 3 billion people, half the world's population, live on less than $2 a day; 2 billion people lack access to sanitation…. Former World Bank research economist William Easterly argues that a second tragedy attends this grave situation: Over $2.3 trillion in aid from the West has done shockingly little to alleviate the twin blights of famine and poverty in the Third World. In this blistering indictment, Easterly explains why the best-laid plans of funders fail in real-world situations.
David Ignatius
Easterly's dissection of the interventionist impulse of the Planners is powerful. His enthusiasm for the bottom-up successes of the Searchers is less so. He's looking hard for something encouraging to say, but it's a measure of the potency of his corrosive analysis that the good news isn't very convincing.
— The Washington Post
More Reviews (5) Fewer Reviews
Virgina Postrel
Easterly asks the right questions, combining compassion with clear-eyed empiricism. Bono and his devotees should heed what he has to say.
— The New York Times
Publishers Weekly
No one who attacks the humanitarian aid establishment is going to win any popularity contests, but, neither, it seems, is that establishment winning any contests with the people it is supposed to be helping. Easterly, an NYU economics professor and a former research economist at the World Bank, brazenly contends that the West has failed, and continues to fail, to enact its ill-formed, utopian aid plans because, like the colonialists of old, it assumes it knows what is best for everyone. Existing aid strategies, Easterly argues, provide neither accountability nor feedback. Without accountability for failures, he says, broken economic systems are never fixed. And without feedback from the poor who need the aid, no one in charge really understands exactly what trouble spots need fixing. True victories against poverty, he demonstrates, are most often achieved through indigenous, ground-level planning. Except in its early chapters, where Easterly builds his strategic platform atop a tower of statistical analyses, the book's wry, cynical prose is highly accessible. Readers will come away with a clear sense of how orthodox methods of poverty reduction do not help, and can sometimes worsen, poor economies. (Mar. 20) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
Foreign Affairs
Be thine own palace, wrote John Donne, "or the world's thy jail." William Easterly does notinvoke this particular metaphor in The White Man's Burden, but this exciting — and excited — book is about the imprisonment of the world's poor in the trap of international aid, where "planners" have incarcerated the wretched of the earth. The poor may not have a "palace" to fall back on, battered as they are by grinding privation, massive illiteracy, and the scourge of epidemics. But Easterly — a former World Bank economist who now teaches at New York University — nevertheless argues that in the fight against global poverty, "the right plan is to have no plan."

In contrast to the typically well-meaning but allegedly always injurious "planners," the heroes of Easterly's book are those whom he calls "searchers." The division between the planners and the searchers, as seen by Easterly, could not be sharper: "In foreign aid, Planners announce good intentions but don't motivate anyone to carry them out; Searchers find things that work and get some reward. Planners raise expectations but take no responsibility for meeting them; Searchers accept responsibility for their actions. Planners determine what to supply; Searchers find out what is in demand. Planners apply global blueprints; Searchers adapt to local conditions. Planners at the top lack knowledge of the bottom; Searchers find out what the reality is at the bottom. Planners never hear whether the planned got what it needed; Searchers find out whether the customer is satisfied." The radical oversimplification in this overdrawn contrast leads Easterly to a simple summary of his book's thesis in its subtitle — Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good — which supplements a title borrowed from Rudyard Kipling's lyrical paean to high-minded imperialism.

Library Journal
According to this former World Bank research economist, the $2.3 trillion in aid that the West has poured into the Third World over 50 years hasn't helped because the approach is all wrong. The recipients have a better idea of what is needed than the planners. Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
A contrarian argument that humanitarian assistance seldom produces the desired results-and may even further poverty and hunger. Former World Bank economist Easterly has perhaps chosen an unfortunate title for his latest book, but there's a point to it. "Here's a secret," he writes: "anytime you hear a Western politician or activist say ‘we,' they mean ‘we whites'-today's version of the White Man's Burden." The humanitarian aid that moves from the First World to what Easterly calls the Rest almost always goes to the wrong places, a tragedy all its own given the magnitude of the macro-problem-namely, as he notes, that nearly three billion people live on less than two dollars a day each. Given this, top-down solutions that assume that only free markets can generate wealth are illusory, though that wishful thinking is understandable. More useful, Easterly writes, are top-down incentives to nurture good governments and isolate bad ones (although, as he notes, "aid shifts money from being spent by the best governments in the world to being spent by the worst"), while encouraging aid clients to develop social norms against crime, corruption and predation, and for property rights. More useful still are bottom-up solutions of various kinds; one of the most interesting that Easterly proposes is simply that "development vouchers" be given to the extremely poor, who may then redeem these at aid agencies in exchange for vaccinations, feed, drugs, medical attention, tools, seeds, food or whatever they might find most useful at the moment. In other words, imagine, Easterly proposes, giving the needy a voice in addressing their needs. Easterly's is not the only recent portrayal of humanitarianism incrisis (see David Rieff's A Bed for the Night, 2002), but it is unusual in suggesting solutions as well.

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780143038825
  • Publisher: Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated
  • Publication date: 2/27/2007
  • Edition description: Reprint
  • Pages: 448
  • Sales rank: 128,908
  • Product dimensions: 5.54 (w) x 8.46 (h) x 1.03 (d)

Meet the Author

William Easterly is a professor of economics at New York University and a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development. He was a senior research economist at the World Bank for more than sixteen years. In addition to his academic work, he has written widely in recent years for The Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Forbes, and Foreign Policy, among others. He is the author of the acclaimed book The Elusive Quest for Growth: Economists' Adventures and Misadventures in the Tropics. He has worked in many areas of the developing world, most extensively in Africa, Latin America, and Russia.

Table of Contents

Ch. 1 Planners versus searchers 3
Pt. I Why planners cannot bring prosperity
Ch. 2 The legend of the big push 37
Ch. 3 You can't plan a market 60
Ch. 4 Planners and gangsters 112
Pt. II Acting out the burden
Ch. 5 The rich have markets, the poor have bureaucrats 165
Ch. 6 Bailing out the poor 210
Ch. 7 The healers : triumph and tragedy 238
Pt. III The white man's army
Ch. 8 From colonialism to postmodern imperialism 269
Ch. 9 Invading the poor 311
Pt. IV The future
Ch. 10 Homegrown development 341
Ch. 11 The future of western assistance 367

Customer Reviews

Average Rating 5
( 14 )

Rating Distribution

5 Star

(13)

4 Star

(0)

3 Star

(0)

2 Star

(1)

1 Star

(0)

Your Rating:

Review Guidelines
Add Recommendations
Your Name: Create a Pen Name or Leave Anonymously

Barnes & Noble.com Review Rules

Our reader reviews allow you to share your comments on titles you liked, or didn't, with others. By submitting an online review, you are representing to Barnes & Noble.com that all information contained in your review is original and accurate in all respects, and that the submission of such content by you and the posting of such content by Barnes & Noble.com does not and will not violate the rights of any third party. Please follow the rules below to help ensure that your review can be posted.

Reviews by Our Customers Under the Age of 13

We highly value and respect everyone's opinion concerning the titles we offer. However, we cannot allow persons under the age of 13 to have accounts at BN.com or to post customer reviews. Please see our Terms of Use for more details.

What to exclude from your review:

Please do not write about reviews, commentary, or information posted on the product page. If you see any errors in the information on the product page, please send us an email.

Reviews should not contain any of the following:

  • - HTML tags, profanity, obscenities, vulgarities, or comments that defame anyone
  • - Time-sensitive information such as tour dates, signings, lectures, etc.
  • - Single-word reviews. Other people will read your review to discover why you liked or didn't like the title. Be descriptive.
  • - Comments focusing on the author or that may ruin the ending for others
  • - Phone numbers, addresses, URLs
  • - Pricing and availability information or alternative ordering information
  • - Advertisements or commercial solicitation

Reminder:

  • - By submitting a review, you grant to Barnes & Noble.com and its sublicensees the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable right and license to use the review in accordance with the Barnes & Noble.com Terms of Use.
  • - Barnes & Noble.com reserves the right not to post any review -- particularly those that do not follow the terms and conditions of these Rules. Barnes & Noble.com also reserves the right to remove any review at any time without notice.
  • - See Terms of Use for other conditions and disclaimers.
Search for Products You'd Like to Recommend

Recommend other products that relate to your review. Just search for them below and share!

Create a Pen Name

Your Pen Name is your unique identiy on BN.com. It will appear on the reviews you write and other website activities. Your Pen Name cannot be edited, changed or deleted once submitted.

Your Pen Name can be any combination of alphanumeric characters (plus - and _), and must be at least two characters long.

Continue Anonymously

We're sorry, but penname is already taken.

Please select one of the following:
Your Pen Name can be any combination of alphanumeric characters (plus - and _), and must be at least two characters long.

Continue Anonymously

penname is available!

By visiting the BN.com website or marking a purchase on BN.com, a User is deemed to have accepted the Terms of Use.

Continue Anonymously

Welcome, penname

You have successfully created your Pen Name. Start enjoying the benefits of the BN.com Community today.

Sort by: Showing 1 – 16 of 14 Customer Reviews

  • Anonymous

    Posted August 13, 2008

    White Man's Burden: Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good

    Dr.William Easterly convincingly decimates the falsehoods perpetrated by the so called aid-establisment.He enunciates the much more important role of knowledge(compared to money) in poverty-eradication and uses his erudition to demonstrate how ignorant the world really is about this hot-button issue.I highly recommend this book.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted August 12, 2008

    White Man's Burden: Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good

    This book underscores the need for pragmatism in helping the poor and financially distressed.The author's remarks are very perceptive and his knowledge tremendous in the correct sense of the term.Extremely Impressive!

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted August 11, 2008

    White Man's Burden: Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good

    `The White Man¿s Burden¿ speaks volumes about Dr.William Easterly¿s clear-eyed realism and his remarkable ability and courage to highlight the potential shortcomings of foreign aid. Dr.Easterly¿s book is immensely important and valuable.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted August 9, 2008

    White Man's Burden: Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good

    A practical approach to cure the menace of poverty Dr.Easterly's insights are truly thought provoking. Dr.Easterly has the rare skill to hit the nail on the head.A book that simply cannot be ignored.Please read it.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted July 16, 2008

    White Man's Burden: Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good

    Dr.W.Easterly helps us scratch the surface and brings out the pitfalls in our understanding of the problems in the developing world.The panacea he suggests is based on rigorous research and hard facts,not fuzzy or incomplete information.'The White Man's Burden' is an *irrefutably* *indispensable* piece of work.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted August 6, 2008

    White Man's Burden: Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good

    I highly recommend this book to one and all,especially the philanthropists who often put the cart before the horse in their attempt to help the financially-deprived.This is not just another book,this is a potential remedy to the ills of poverty.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted May 18, 2007

    Intelligent critique of foreign aid policies

    At the World Economic Forum in 2007, author William Easterly gave the audience some distressing news: The $2.3 trillion in aid sent to Africa since the 1950s had done nothing to increase Africa's GDP. It had been largely a waste of money. Bill Gates, who was sitting next to Easterly that day, admonished the author for focusing on narrowly economic benchmarks: 'You don't eat GDP,' Gates said petulantly. Easterly's riposte came a few days later in The Wall Street Journal, where he chided the world's richest college dropout for missing 'the economics class that listed the components of GDP, such as food.' Readers who enjoy such debates will love this acerbic, clearheaded book. Easterly, a former World Bank economist who is fervently committed to global prosperity, demolishes the myths that prop up ineffective efforts to help developing nations. He points his wrecking-ball at photo-op celebrities and utopian economists who feel that big plans and big aid budgets will eventually build big economies (the last 50 years of contrary evidence notwithstanding). Ah, you say, at least they are trying to do something good, while many others simply watch the impoverished world's agony in dismay. Instead, the author argues, only alternative, pinpointed aid tactics can succeed, but only if they use local knowledge and implementation. We recommend this to anyone interested in economic development and emerging markets, and to lovers of intelligent polemic on issues that matter.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted December 7, 2009

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted April 8, 2011

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted January 11, 2011

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted January 23, 2010

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted September 26, 2009

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted December 6, 2010

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted November 11, 2008

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted April 3, 2011

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted November 3, 2011

    No text was provided for this review.

Sort by: Showing 1 – 16 of 14 Customer Reviews
If you find inappropriate content, please report it to Barnes & Noble
Why is this product inappropriate?
Comments (optional)
500 character limit