Political Economy and Development
Why did African economies stall while others grew, and what should be done about it? These ten works argue it out across politics, institutions, aid, statistics, and industrial and agricultural strategy.
Markets and States in Tropical Africa
Robert H. Bates
Why would a government wreck its own farmers? Because it pays politically.
Read why it mattered →The Bottom Billion
Paul Collier
Not the developing world versus the rich, but a billion people falling behind everyone.
Read why it mattered →Dead Aid
Dambisa Moyo
What if the aid meant to save Africa is part of what keeps it poor?
Read why it mattered →Why Nations Fail
Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson
Prosperity is not geography or culture; it is institutions.
Read why it mattered →The White Man's Burden
William Easterly
Planners promise the world; searchers find what actually works.
Read why it mattered →The End of Poverty
Jeffrey Sachs
Extreme poverty could be ended in a generation, if the rich world paid up.
Read why it mattered →African Economies and the Politics of Permanent Crisis, 1979-1999
Nicolas van de Walle
Twenty years of reform, and the crisis somehow never ended.
Read why it mattered →Our Continent, Our Future: African Perspectives on Structural Adjustment
Thandika Mkandawire and Charles C. Soludo
Adjustment was designed for Africa, but rarely with Africans.
Read why it mattered →Poor Numbers: How We Are Misled by African Development Statistics and What to Do about It
Morten Jerven
The GDP figures used to rank African economies may be guesswork.
Read why it mattered →The New Harvest: Agricultural Innovation in Africa
Calestous Juma
Africa can feed itself, if it treats agriculture as a knowledge industry.
Read why it mattered →More from the library