 |
 |
Store: An Independent Institute Book
63 Figures • 27 Tables
© 2008 |
| | | |
LESSONS FROM THE POOR
Triumph of the Entrepreneurial Spirit
Edited by
Alvaro Vargas Llosa
Foreword by
James D. Gwartney
Half the people in the world live on two dollars or less per day and roughly 600 million live on no more than one dollar per day. With thousands of international relief organizations, strategic government programs, and billions of dollars in foreign aid, why do so many underdeveloped countries remain unable to grow their economies beyond mere survival?
It is this issue that internationally acclaimed political analyst Alvaro Vargas Llosa and a select group of economists examine in a series of case studies from around the world. These studies reveal that entrepreneurial energy can be a persistent catalyst for change. But unfortunately in societies dominated by political corruption and unnecessary regulation, men and women seeking to innovate must hurdle a series of challenges. Wealth transfer, favoritism, excessive taxation, and lack of institutional security all conspire against progress. Our contributors examine real world examples of entrepreneurship and argue that instead of redistributing existing wealth, developing countries should start working to create it.
Detailed Summary |
| |
|
Table of Contents Foreword
James D. Gwartney
Introduction: Lessons from the Poor
Alvaro Vargas Llosa
1. Amid Hopelessness, Hopeful Investment
Daniel Córdova
2. Defeating Poverty Doing Business
Daniel Córdova
3. Nakumatt: A Kenyan Supermarket
June Arunga and Scott Beaulier
4. The Nigerian Clothing Design Industry
Thompson Ayodele
5. Barter Clubs in Argentina
Martín Simonetta, Gustavo Lazzari, and Gabriel Gasave
6. Freedom, Entrepreneurship, and Economic Growth
Joshua C. Hall and Russell S. Sobel
Praise for Lessons from the Poor “Many people are naturally entrepreneurial, but the spirit of enterprise can be easily discouraged by government restrictions or a culture of conformity. Many poor countries have suffered from bad government and unnecessary regulations that discourage small-firm formation and growth. The important book Lessons from the Poor provides informative case studies of how good government has fostered entrepreneurship and economic development in some of the poorest countries of the world.”
—Mark C. Casson, Professor of Economics and Director, Centre for Institutional Performance, University of Reading, England
“When we think about fighting poverty, we mostly listen to the rich—western businessmen, policymakers and academics. This wonderful, inspiring book gives us the advice from the poor.”
—Fareed Zakaria, Editor, Newsweek International; Host, CNN’s Fareed Zakaria GPS; and Co-host, PostGlobal
“Lessons from the Poor shows that the mightiest soldiers in the war on poverty are poor people themselves. This fascinating book documents the remarkable creativity and entrepreneurship of the poor, ranging from the family grocer in Kenya that became a supermarket giant to the makers of traditional dyed cloth in the informal sector in Nigeria, who make as much money as corporate managers in the formal sector. The message of the book is profoundly hopeful—as governments remove obstacles to entrepreneurship, there is much potential for the poor to lift themselves out of poverty.”
—William R. Easterly, Professor of Economics and Director, Development Research Institute, New York University
“Discovering the root causes of poverty in the Third World and attempting to combat them has become a billion-dollar industry in itself. Yet, according to the Independent Institute, international aid efforts may only serve to hinder rather then encourage economic development. Lessons from the Poor: Triumph of the Entrepreneurial Spirit chronicles the successes of Third World entrepreneurs who lifted themselves up from poverty and overcame obstacles (particularly the labyrinth of government regulations) to become successful business owners. . . . Ultimately, as the Independent Institute’s study shows, free enterprise and the extraordinary fortitude and vision of Third World entrepreneurs do play significant roles in alleviating poverty.”
—The Futurist
“Of interest is a new book from the Independent Institute. . . . The new volume bears an intriguing title: Lessons from the Poor. The book returns you to the basics of economic life, and even somewhat to life itself. . . . I intend to keep this book on my shelf, for factual reference and even, perhaps, for inspiration. One of the glories of this book is that there is nothing ideological about it. It simply searches the questions, ‘What works and why?’ Material progress is not everything in life, but, as V. S. Naipaul once observed, the poor need it—and they could have it, if only others would get off their throats. . . . This is a valuable and emboldening book. It says, in a nutshell, that the remedy for Third World poverty is entrepreneurship—not socialism, not mindless foreign aid, and surely not Western guilt. But entrepreneurship. To me, the book's arguments are irrefutable. And so is the experience of the last many decades.”
—National Review
“Why isn't a Bill Gates or a Steve Jobs born in Honduras? I mean, why is it that creative people don't emerge in the Third World, capable of developing innovative products and building companies that market those products, create jobs, generate large profits and influence decisively the fate of this planet? . . . Alvaro Vargas Llosa attempts to answer that nagging question in a book that's extraordinarily important for the great debate over development: Lessons from the Poor, published by the Independent Institute. The book, written by several important economists, compiled and given a foreword by Alvaro, who heads the Center on Global Prosperity, compiles five cases of remarkable entrepreneurial successes achieved by poor people under very adverse conditions. Two of them occurred in Peru, another in Argentina, and the others in Nigeria and Kenya.”
—Miami Herald
“This book offers great reading for any person seriously dedicated to the elimination of poverty. Its very cover contains five good reasons for assuring this: the title’s implication that the poor themselves can teach us by their own example how they were able to overcome their poverty; its further implication that the secret of their progress is ‘entrepreneurial spirit’; the editorship of Alvaro Vargas Llosa; the foreword by Liberty Index guru, Jim Gwartney; and the publisher, the respected Independent Institute. The jacket unsurprisingly turns out to be the preamble of an outstanding treatment unique among treatises on poverty that have crossed my path. Ostensibly, Lessons from the Poor tells us five stories about the unbelievable success of fledgling entrepreneurs under the most discouraging conditions. . . . All this is topped by a fantastic essay (win econometric backing) on the need for entrepreneurship to create growth and progress. . . . It is the story of how entrepreneurs seem to have appeared from nowhere. . . . Each of the articles aptly describe the hostile environments and the weak underlying social institutions that beleaguered these evolving enterprises, as well as the political obstacles, nationalizations, agrarian expropriation, complex regulations, exchange controls and prohibitions of all sorts, increased traffic, social and environmental experimentation, and the requirement to endure 360 days of bureaucratic niggling in order to get an idea started or to enforce contracts.”
—Journal of Markets and Morality
“Lessons from the Poor is a collection of essays apparently targeted for the non-economics specialist, although supported with copious citations. Intended to illustrate the maxim elucidated by the editor, Alvaro Vargas Llosa, that ‘entrepreneurship, not Western guilt, is the way to move forward.’ Case studies are drawn from Peru, Argentina, Kenya and Nigeria. The persistence and entrepreneurial brilliance of the individuals highlighted in these stories is undeniable. . . . The insights in the studies here are a useful addition to economic development literature . . .”
—Poverty & Public Policy
|
|
 |
|
