Document(s) 2 of 6

The Bottom Billion by Paul Collier has raised a lot of attention in the world of development.  The heart of the narrative presented in the book is that a group of almost 60 countries, with a population of about a billion people, are caught in four main traps.  Their prospects for escaping the traps are poor, and they need a set of actions from the international community to achieve the rapid rates of growth that are argued to be necessary for poverty reduction.  In this paper, Dr. Randy Spence provides a critical analysis of the book.  The overall argument of this paper is that the analysis and narrative of the book need to be expanded in several ways to be of greater use to policy makers in the bottom billion (BB) countries, and to practitioners working on issues of global poverty and development.  Drawing on his extensive experience in applied development policy and research in several regions and countries, the author provides insights on expanding the perspective presented in The Bottom Billion and raises questions and suggestions for further investigation and analysis.  After reviewing the main perspectives presented in the book in greater detail, the paper looks at the concept of ‘traps’, and then at each of the four traps.  The paper then picks up the threads of several broader factors which emerge in the discussion of the traps.  Finally, a number of questions for further consideration are raised and a summary of suggestions to move forward is provided.

Document(s) 2 of 6