GLOBEMED’S GLOBAL HEALTH EDUCATION AND LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT CURRICULUM
globalhealthU Track 2, Week 1
Exploring The Theories Of William Easterly Notable Quotes: ✦ ✦
In the fight against poverty, “the right plan is to have no plan” “Poverty never has been ended and never will be ended by foreign experts or foreign aid. Poverty will end as it has ended everywhere else, by homegrown political, economic, and social reformers and entrepreneurs that unleash the power of democracy and free markets.”
Biography William Easterly is Professor of Economics at New York University, and Co-director of its Development Research Institute, which won the 2009 BBVA Frontiers of Knowledge in Development Cooperation Award. He is the author of two books: The White Man’s Burden: Why the West’s Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Harm and So Little Good (2006) and The Elusive Quest for Growth: Economists’ Adventures and Misadventures in the Tropics. He was named in 2008 and 2009 among the Top 100 Global Public Intellectuals by Foreign Policy Magazine, and ranks among the top 100 most cited academic economists worldwide. He is Research Associate of NBER, senior fellow BREAD and nonresident Senior Fellow at Brookings. He is also the 11th most famous native of Bowling Green, Ohio.1
Major Theories Intrinsic to Easterly’s ideas on how to best alleviate poverty is a rejection of large scale, foreign imposed plans. He makes a clear distinction between “planners,” and “searchers.” He states, “ 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.”2 All of these points of distinction are crucial for understanding Easterly’s perspective, as he prioritizes listening over directing and adaptability over more rigid schema. Easterly attributes much of the failure of these grand plans to their disregard of the complex nature of institutions and incentive systems. He also critiques their neglect of individual initiative, which must be societally fostered rather than bureaucratically smothered.3 Beyond these philosophical objections, Easterly stresses that, on a practical level, systems of aid must be directed differently. Institutionalized accountability must be ingrained in every foreign aid investment and a cohesive metric must exist to make sure that aid actually reaches the poor. These changes would help facilitate tangible improvement that is both sustainable and assessable.
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GLOBEMED’S GLOBAL HEALTH EDUCATION AND LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT CURRICULUM
globalhealthU His views flow from his belief that poverty is more complex than contemporary economic depravation. He includes deeper factors such as the corruption and ambition of political figures, historical exploitation from foreign powers, and dysfunctional domestic institutions in his analysis. Because of the inherently personal and inveterate nature of these problems, all approaches that seek to throw money at impoverished countries or lump them together under one giant schema will inevitably be unsuccessful. Poverty cannot be alleviated by foreign doctrines or ideals. It must be combatted “by homegrown political, economic, and social reformers and entrepreneurs that unleash the power of democracy and free markets.”4 Some of the tangible suggestions that spring from his criticisms are to fund specific tasks that have a track record of success, such as health care initiatives or education. He also recommends the creation of an independent international aid agency capable of objectively evaluating the progress of foreign investment. These more pragmatic suggestions would make considerable strides in what he considers to be a very flawed system. 1. 2. 3. 4.
http://williameasterly.org/bio http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/61525/amartya-sen/the-man-without-a-plan http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/61525/amartya-sen/the-man-without-a-plan http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2007/jan/11/the-white-mans-burden/
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Aid: Can it Work: A detailed analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of Easterly’s main economic theories. Discusses Easterly’s views on the sources of poverty as well as his recommendations to alleviate poverty. Provides Easterly’s tangible research and conclusions. Also discusses the Sachs/Easterly debate. http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2006/oct/05/aid-can-it-work/ The White Man’s Burden: Easterly critiques Sachs’ arguments and provides his own analysis of the source of poverty, as well as his views on the proper role of aid and development. http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2007/jan/11/the-white-mans-burden/ The Man Without a Plan: Amartya Sen critiques William Easterly’s book The White Man’s Burden, providing a discussion of both Easterly’s strengths and weaknesses. http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/61525/amartya-sen/the-man-without-a-plan The Elusive Quest for Reform: Easterly responds to Amartya Sen’s critique of his book, The White Man’s Burden http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/61741/william-easterly/the-elusive-quest-for-reform
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