William Easterly
Encyclopedia
William Russell Easterly (born September 7, 1957) is an American economist, specializing in economic growth
and foreign aid. He is a Professor of Economics at New York University
, joint with Africa House, and Co-Director of NYU’s Development Research Institute. He is also a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution
in Washington DC. Easterly is an associate editor of the Quarterly Journal of Economics, the Journal of Economic Growth, and of the Journal of Development Economics.
Easterly maintained a blog called "Aid Watch" where he posted regularly about aid related issues.
He has also spoken at the Templeton Foundation with his contemporary Dambisa Moyo
as well as written in the press to respond to critics such as Jeffrey Sachs
and Ha-Joon Chang
.
and raised in Bowling Green
, Ohio
, Easterly received his BA from Bowling Green State University
in 1979 and his Ph.D. in Economics from MIT in 1985. He spent sixteen years as a Research Economist at the World Bank
and was adjunct professor at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies
.
From 1985 to 2001 he worked at the World Bank
as an economist and Senior Adviser at the Macroeconomics and Growth Division. He then worked at the Institute for International Economics
and the Center for Global Development
until 2003, when he began teaching at NYU. He has worked in many areas of the developing world and some transition economies
, most heavily in Africa, Latin America, and Russia.
He is the author of The Elusive Quest for Growth: Economists' Adventures and Misadventures in the Tropics (MIT, 2001), The White Man’s Burden: Why the West’s Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good (Penguin, 2006), 3 other co-edited books, and 46 articles in refereed economics journals.
His work has been discussed in media outlets such as National Public Radio, the BBC
, the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, The Economist
, The New Yorker
, Forbes
, Business Week, the Financial Times
, and the Christian Science Monitor.
In his papers he introduced the notions of Factor world
and Productivity world
.
” that have been tried since World War II
but had little to show for their efforts. Among them is one that has recently come back into fashion: debt relief
. That remedy has been tried many times before, he argues, with negative results more often than positive, and calls for a more scrutinizing process.
In The White Man's Burden (The title referring to the famous The White Man's Burden
by Rudyard Kipling
), Easterly elaborates on his views about the meaning of foreign aid. Released in the wake of Live8, the book is critical of people like Bob Geldoff and Bono
(“The white band's burden”) and especially of fellow economist Jeffrey Sachs
and his bestselling book The End of Poverty
. Easterly suspects that such messianic do-good missions are ultimately modern reincarnations of the infamous colonial
conceit of yore. He distinguishes two types of foreign aid donors: “Planners”, who believe in imposing top-down big plans on poor countries, and “Searchers”, who look for bottom-up solutions to specific needs. Planners are portrayed as utopian, while Searchers are more realistic as they focus — following Karl Popper
— on piecemeal interventions. Searchers, according to Easterly, have a much better chance to succeed.
Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen
has praised Easterly for analysis of the problems of foreign aid, but criticized his sweeping debarment of all plans, lacking the due distinctions between different types of problems, and not giving the aid institutions credit for understanding the points he's making.
Economic growth
In economics, economic growth is defined as the increasing capacity of the economy to satisfy the wants of goods and services of the members of society. Economic growth is enabled by increases in productivity, which lowers the inputs for a given amount of output. Lowered costs increase demand...
and foreign aid. He is a Professor of Economics at New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
, joint with Africa House, and Co-Director of NYU’s Development Research Institute. He is also a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution
Brookings Institution
The Brookings Institution is a nonprofit public policy organization based in Washington, D.C., in the United States. One of Washington's oldest think tanks, Brookings conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in economics, metropolitan policy, governance, foreign policy, and...
in Washington DC. Easterly is an associate editor of the Quarterly Journal of Economics, the Journal of Economic Growth, and of the Journal of Development Economics.
Easterly maintained a blog called "Aid Watch" where he posted regularly about aid related issues.
He has also spoken at the Templeton Foundation with his contemporary Dambisa Moyo
Dambisa Moyo
Dr. Dambisa Moyo is an international economist and New York Times best-selling author of both Dead Aid: Why Aid is Not Working and How There is a Better Way For Africa, published in 2009, and How the West Was Lost: Fifty Years of Economic Folly - And the Stark Choices that Lie Ahead, published in...
as well as written in the press to respond to critics such as Jeffrey Sachs
Jeffrey Sachs
Jeffrey David Sachs is an American economist and Director of The Earth Institute at Columbia University. One of the youngest economics professors in the history of Harvard University, Sachs became known for his role as an adviser to Eastern European and developing country governments in the...
and Ha-Joon Chang
Ha-Joon Chang
Ha-Joon Chang is one of the leading heterodox economists and institutional economists specialising in development economics...
.
Biography
Born in West VirginiaWest Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
and raised in Bowling Green
Bowling Green, Ohio
Bowling Green is the county seat of Wood County in the U.S. state of Ohio. At the time of the 2010 census, the population of Bowling Green was 30,028. It is part of the Toledo, Ohio Metropolitan Statistical Area. Bowling Green is the home of Bowling Green State University...
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, Easterly received his BA from Bowling Green State University
Bowling Green State University
Bowling Green State University, often referred to as Bowling Green or BGSU, is a public, coeducational research university located in Bowling Green, Ohio, United States. The institution was granted a charter in 1910 by the State of Ohio as part of the Lowry Bill, which also established Kent State...
in 1979 and his Ph.D. in Economics from MIT in 1985. He spent sixteen years as a Research Economist at the World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
and was adjunct professor at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies
Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies
The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies , a division of Johns Hopkins University based in Washington, D.C., is one of the world's leading and most prestigious graduate schools devoted to the study of international affairs, economics, diplomacy, and policy research and...
.
From 1985 to 2001 he worked at the World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
as an economist and Senior Adviser at the Macroeconomics and Growth Division. He then worked at the Institute for International Economics
Institute for International Economics
The Peter G. Peterson Institute for International Economics , formerly the Institute for International Economics, is a private, non-profit, and nonpartisan think tank focused on international economics, based in Washington, D.C. It was founded by C...
and the Center for Global Development
Center for Global Development
The Center for Global Development is a non-profit think tank based in Washington, D.C. that focuses on international development. It was founded in November 2001 by former senior U.S. official Edward W. Scott, director of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, C. Fred Bergsten, and...
until 2003, when he began teaching at NYU. He has worked in many areas of the developing world and some transition economies
Transition economy
A transition economy or transitional economy is an economy which is changing from a centrally planned economy to a free market. Transition economies undergo economic liberalization, where market forces set prices rather than a central planning organization and trade barriers are removed,...
, most heavily in Africa, Latin America, and Russia.
He is the author of The Elusive Quest for Growth: Economists' Adventures and Misadventures in the Tropics (MIT, 2001), The White Man’s Burden: Why the West’s Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good (Penguin, 2006), 3 other co-edited books, and 46 articles in refereed economics journals.
His work has been discussed in media outlets such as National Public Radio, the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
, The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
, Forbes
Forbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
, Business Week, the Financial Times
Financial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
, and the Christian Science Monitor.
In his papers he introduced the notions of Factor world
Factor world
Factor World is a term used by William Easterly to describe the traditional model of aggregate production function which is: Y = K^α . ^...
and Productivity world
Productivity world
Productivity World is a term used by William Easterly to describe that relative productivity among Factors of production is the same in the sectors across countries, but rich countries have absolute productivity advantage....
.
Views
Easterly is skeptical toward many of the trends that are common in the field of foreign aid. In The Elusive Quest for Growth he analyzes the reasons why foreign aid to many third world countries has failed to produce sustainable growth. He reviews the many “panaceasPanacea (medicine)
The panacea , named after the Greek goddess of healing, Panacea, also known as panchrest, was supposed to be a remedy that would cure all diseases and prolong life indefinitely...
” that have been tried since World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
but had little to show for their efforts. Among them is one that has recently come back into fashion: debt relief
Debt relief
Debt relief is the partial or total forgiveness of debt, or the slowing or stopping of debt growth, owed by individuals, corporations, or nations. From antiquity through the 19th century, it refers to domestic debts, in particular agricultural debts and freeing of debt slaves...
. That remedy has been tried many times before, he argues, with negative results more often than positive, and calls for a more scrutinizing process.
In The White Man's Burden (The title referring to the famous The White Man's Burden
The White Man's Burden
"The White Man's Burden" is a poem by the English poet Rudyard Kipling. It was originally published in the popular magazine McClure's in 1899, with the subtitle The United States and the Philippine Islands...
by Rudyard Kipling
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...
), Easterly elaborates on his views about the meaning of foreign aid. Released in the wake of Live8, the book is critical of people like Bob Geldoff and Bono
Bono
Paul David Hewson , most commonly known by his stage name Bono , is an Irish singer, musician, and humanitarian best known for being the main vocalist of the Dublin-based rock band U2. Bono was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, and attended Mount Temple Comprehensive School where he met his...
(“The white band's burden”) and especially of fellow economist Jeffrey Sachs
Jeffrey Sachs
Jeffrey David Sachs is an American economist and Director of The Earth Institute at Columbia University. One of the youngest economics professors in the history of Harvard University, Sachs became known for his role as an adviser to Eastern European and developing country governments in the...
and his bestselling book The End of Poverty
The End of Poverty
The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time is a 2005 book by American economist Jeffrey Sachs. It was a New York Times bestseller....
. Easterly suspects that such messianic do-good missions are ultimately modern reincarnations of the infamous colonial
Colonialism
Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...
conceit of yore. He distinguishes two types of foreign aid donors: “Planners”, who believe in imposing top-down big plans on poor countries, and “Searchers”, who look for bottom-up solutions to specific needs. Planners are portrayed as utopian, while Searchers are more realistic as they focus — following Karl Popper
Karl Popper
Sir Karl Raimund Popper, CH FRS FBA was an Austro-British philosopher and a professor at the London School of Economics...
— on piecemeal interventions. Searchers, according to Easterly, have a much better chance to succeed.
Criticism
Sachs responded to Easterly's arguments, leading to an ongoing debate. Sachs accused Easterly of excessive pessimism, overestimating costs, and overlooking past successes.Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen
Amartya Sen
Amartya Sen, CH is an Indian economist who was awarded the 1998 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to welfare economics and social choice theory, and for his interest in the problems of society's poorest members...
has praised Easterly for analysis of the problems of foreign aid, but criticized his sweeping debarment of all plans, lacking the due distinctions between different types of problems, and not giving the aid institutions credit for understanding the points he's making.
Books
- Easterly, William. The Elusive Quest for Growth : Economists' Adventures and Misadventures in the Tropics. The MIT Press, 2001; ISBN 026205065X
- Easterly, William. The White Man's Burden: Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good. Penguin Press HC, The, 2006; ISBN 1594200378
External links
- Aid Watch A blog written by William Easterly and Laura Freschi of the Development Research Institute
- Who is William Easterly
- The Development Research Institute William Easterly's research institute at New York University
- William Easterly on Al Jazeera English's Riz Khan show
- Professional information, as well as published works
- Easterly's expert page at the Brookings Institution
- A Modest Proposal A critical review of Jeffrey Sachs's blueprint for a new foreign aid initiative, "The End Of Poverty."
- Center for Global Development: CGD Experts: William Easterly
- Think Again: Debt Relief
- Abridgements of The Elusive Quest for Growth and The White Man's Burden
- The Man Without a Plan Book review of "White Man's Burden," published in Foreign Affairs.
- The Utopian Nightmare