The Bottom Billion - Essay Example

? Number] The Bottom Billion The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries are Failing and What can be Done About it is written by the Oxford University economist Paul Collier in 2007. The book is about those countries that have not been able to flourish despite the international support and aid provided to them. The people who are described in bottom billion are those whose lives are getting worse with every passing day. Globalization in the 1990s had lifted poverty out of millions in India and China but the income of these people had actually fallen by 5 per cent. Collier writes that ‘the countries at the bottom coexist with the 21st century, but their reality is the 14th century: civil war, plague, ignorance’. Collier has studied for decades about the countries, their struggles and their efforts to escape poverty. He wrote the book with a compilation of a lifetime’s findings and technical research. The book focuses on the billions of people who are facing problems because of the never ending poverty (Quinn 1). In this book, Collier has based his research on the hard-headed analysis of the cost-benefits rather than emotional aspects or post colonial guilt. He has talked with facts and the calculations for instance the cost of the badly governed diminishing state and its neighbours is the loss of the economic growth of about $100bn. In this situation, it seems like a bargain to spend a few million dollars on skilled administrators for government support, infrastructure projects and sending troops to put down rebellions. Collier’s findings have overturned the persistent myths about the failure that Africa is facing for decades. He finds that the history of failure and civil wars is not because of the poor politicians or restless populace, but because of poverty. So he states that all countries that are poor and low income face about 14 per cent chances of entering in a civil war during a five year period. Collier writes that the young men who are recruited by the rebel armies are cheap in an environment of immense poverty. Hence, joining the rebel movements give these young men a minor chance of riches (Collier 57). The four poverty traps described in the book includes conflict as the first. Conflict is a trap which cannot be escaped without the help of global aid and support. Other three traps are landlocked with bad or poor neighbours, natural resources abundant and bad governance. Example is that of Switzerland which is landlocked but its neighbours Germany and Italy have giant markets and they are able to sell their goods to rich consumers, whereas Uganda is landlocked but it has neighbours such as Sudan and Somalia that are failed states. Abundant natural resources mean economic boon but in poor countries, these resources mean encouragement for corrupt politicians to snatch power and make economies vulnerable whether it is the oil discovery, copper or diamonds (Saucier 2). Bad governance is a trap which can be seen in Africa and because of which Africa has become disreputable. Countries that are not landlocked and are on the coast can be lucky with the large workforce and for them governance wouldn’t matter much. If the state doesn’t come in the way, growth from exports can take off. However, for countries that are landlocked, the economy is dependent on air-flows or on the revenues from natural resources hence governance is critical. In such countries if bad governance is present, the country can continue to fail. Collier has given the example of Chad where the cash that has to be spent on government healthcare sector, is disappeared even before it reaches the hospitals. This book overall addresses the poorest billion people in the world, most of who are in Africa. Collier has analyzed about 58 countries in this world that harbour the poorest people. The four traps are what cause the poverty to increase and the nations to fail. These traps cause the divergence of these countries from the rest of the world. These countries are failing since years and they might end up in discontent and misery. Every passing year, these countries become poorer and today they are much poorer than what they were in the 1970. The people in these countries live for about 50 years average, which is about seventeen years lesser than other developing countries (Schindler 1). To make the base for his strategies and understanding of the international development, Collier outlines the explanations of how these billion have been trapped in the first part of the book. As the reader reads the explanations, it becomes easier to understand the consequences and instruments that are necessary to set these countries out of poverty traps. In this analysis, Collier finds out that about 73% of countries in poverty have been engaged in a civil war. Many countries still continue to be in wars and these last for about seven years in average and reduce the growth by 2.3% each year. These wars cost the countries and their neighbours about $64bn (Ferguson 1). Collier does not blame social grievances for these wars, in fact he finds that nations low on income and slow economic growth are prone to wars. Once the civil war cycle and violence initiates in a country, it becomes very difficult to break the chain and set free. Collier explains that those countries that are in a civil war at present or have been in the recent past are more likely to be entering another one in the near future. Landlocked countries are in a trap and this trap is occurred when the resources of the country are scarce and transportation links are poor to the coast. This can be because of the own fault or the bad luck of having poor or unfriendly neighbours. Access to coast is so important for countries to reach the global markets. Those countries that have no access to coasts rely on their neighbours for trade and economic growth, and that is their last hope according to Collier. Moreover, if the neighbours are also trapped in any of the four traps, then development for the country is absolutely impossible (Glasgow 1). Small and poor countries with bad governance can suffer many consequences major being poverty. But for Collier it is important for the country to be small for instance Bangladesh is an economically successful country even though it is small and the most corrupt worldwide. Countries that are small rely more on the governance and the government role is great in economic development. When these small governments on which the countries are dependent are involved in corruption and bad policies, then development seems to be vain. These countries are not even expected to overturn their policies and the chances are usually low. Only about 1.9% chances are there of turning around the policies hence countries are genuinely ‘trapped’. The second part of the book is the most important part where Colliers talks about his analysis and evaluates the measures and solutions for these countries to come out of the traps. This part of the book presents solutions and strategies that are important for international development. After explaining the worst state of the poor countries and the traps in which they are, Collier outlines the strategies which are vital to break these traps and encourage economic development. These measures include aid, laws and charters, military intervention and trade policy. This is a general outline and the extent to which these measures will be helpful will depend on the trap in which each country is and the overall country context. The best part is that Collier’s suggestions and strategies show his optimism on their effectiveness and usefulness in international development (Stewart 2). Countries that are in a conflict trap get aid that is beneficial and detrimental. Aid can be provided at large amounts which can most likely result in a rebellion. Aid may also improve the security of the country in the post conflict situations, as well as eliminate the causes of conflict including low income, slow growth when good governance is present. Collier says that those countries that have a natural resource trap do not benefit with aid because their problem is not the lack of money but the distribution of that money by the government (Collier 107). If a country is poor because of being landlocked, then aid is important as it boosts consumption but unlikely to improve overall growth. Directed aid, according to Collier, contributes to improve the transportation sector of the country and also infrastructure which may give better results to the development of the country in long term. Collier’s suggestions show his optimism as he states the potential benefits that aid brings to the countries with bad governance traps. However, the best thing is that Collier has laid down the guidelines about how the aid is to be used and implemented in such situations. He also mentions that aid is not the only solution or cure (Collier 134). Collier is not pro-war throughout the book and he also condemns the Iraq war in various parts of the book, but Collier does mention a need for military intervention in countries that are in the conflict trap. Military intervention is helpful in restoring order and maintaining post conflict harmony, and preventing coups. The circumstances in which military intervention is needed, Collier warns the countries to be prepared and maintain military presence for a decade. Collier talks about Japan, Germany and many developed countries that have been absent from the recent military interventions so the U.S., France and Britain doesn’t face the burden (Collier 134). As Collier discusses the need of revising laws and establishing charters, he recognizes the role of both developed countries and developing countries. This means that some laws and charters of the developed Western world are the reason for the poverty of the bottom billion. For example, Collier blames the banks of developed countries for holding deposits of the bottom billion wealthy which is the money obtained through bribery and corruption. In order to resolve this problem, Collier suggests that banks should create a system which reports the corrupt deposits. Banks should impose strict rules and regulations for bribes. Collier says that bottom billion countries need five charters: natural resource revenues, for democracy, for post conflict situations, for investment and for budget transparency (Kakei 3). Even though it seems difficult that countries are willing to get into so many charters, Collier is still optimistic about this and believes that pressure from the West and government can impose such changes. The last measure for Collier is to change the trade policy even though he outlines that changing the current policies will probably not do anything to break the countries out of the conflicts. For the other types of traps, changing the trade policies will be important and developed countries such as U.S. should move away the great level of subsidies. Developed countries should also end the practice of tariffs. The blame is not laid on the trade policies of the West only but also the high level of domestic protection which are enforced by the bottom billion countries. Collier favoured the free trade, but argued that bottom billion countries should get trade protection from Asian countries if they want to enter in the global market (Boudreaux 5). Collier has outlined his optimism through this book and talked about many solutions that are necessary to adopt for growth and development. Collier has supported capitalism and growth throughout the book and argued his points based on the economic analysis and findings. This book is especially for those people who have little or no knowledge about economics. The book is written in easy language and does not use many technical terms to explain the concepts. Anyone who wants to know why these countries are so poor can pick this book and also learn about the solutions and strategies for international development. Collier’s solutions are not straight forward or easy, he has explained some of the best strategies in a detailed manner and justified his recommendations and suggestions for growth and development. He demonstrates that the answer to the problems lies somewhere right here which is unseen and misunderstood. Unlike many other analysts, he does not stick to the fact that aid is the best solution, in face he says that aid, military intervention, trade policies and international charters; all play an equally important role and share the responsibility. Work Cited Boudreaux Karol. The Bottom Billion by Paul Collier. USA: George Mason University, 2008 Collier Paul. The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries are Failing and What can be done about it. NY: Oxford University Press, 2007 Ferguson Niall. The Least Among Us. NY: The New York Times, 2007 Glasgow Nicole. The Bottom Billion: Development for the Most Volatile Places on Earth. USA: World Affairs Council, 2010 Kakei Saed. The Bottom Billion or an argument against rebellions. USA: Nova Southeastern University, 2011 Quinn Mike. ‘The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries are Failing and What can be done about it’ by Paul Collier. USA: Business fights Poverty, 2008 Saucier Kristin. The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries are Failing and What can be done about it. USA: George Washington University, 2007 Schindler Zeya. Quicklet on Paul Collier’s The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries are Failing and what can be done about it. USA: Hyperlink, 2013 Stewart Heather. Action will Speak Louder than Words. USA: The Observer, 2007 Read More