Left Behind: A New Economics for Neglected Places

(Hardback)

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The world-renowned economist offers a ground-breaking new vision for inclusive prosperity Left behind places can be found in prosperous countries-from South Yorkshire, integral to the industrial revolution and now England's poorest county, to Barranquilla, once Colombia's portal to the Caribbean and now struggling. More alarmingly, the poorest countries in the world are diverging further from the rest of humanity. Why have these places fallen further behind And what can we do about it World-renowned development economist Paul Collier has spent his life working in neglected communities. In this book he offers his candid diagnosis of why some regions and countries are falling further behind, and a new vision for how they can catch up. Collier lays the blame for widening inequality on stale economic orthodoxies that prioritize market forces and centralized bureaucracies like the UK Treasury. In contrast, a new wave of academic research has revealed the crucial role of collective learning, social capital and local agency in reversing decline and equalising life-chances. Drawing on insights from social psychology, moral philosophy and behavioural economics, as well as a range of illuminating case studies, Collier shares a galvanizing vision for a more inclusive, prosperous world.

Reviews

Paul Collier shows how centralized authority and economic orthodoxy have hollowed out communities and deepened the divide between prosperous and neglected places. Ranging across politics, economics, and moral philosophy, he offers a compelling vision for renewal: a place-based economics that empowers local communities and levels-up the left behind. This tour de force book points the way to a political economy of shared prosperity and common purpose -- Michael J. Sandel, author of THE TYRANNY OF MERIT
How is it that so many places and people can be described as left behind This book is a wide-ranging account of why societies have gone so badly wrong in the early 21st century by emphasizing individualism, and an ambitious but essential agenda for tackling some of the problems -- Professor Diane Coyle, author of GDP: A BRIEF BUT AFFECTIONATE HISTORY
This is a brilliant, orthodoxy-upending, critique of the spatial injustices that the economic and policy making community have allowed to blight the lives of too many people for too long. More than that, this book is a compelling and practical manifesto for a better future. It is not only required reading but demands action -- Andy Haldane
Being left behind is a curse on people, places, and even whole countries. Paul Collier brings his astonishing range of global experiences and interdisciplinary knowledge to forge a guidebook for catching up. He challenges the belief that the market is a trustworthy remedy and catalogues the many collective strategies that have worked in the past and can work again. Great wisdom lies herein -- Sir Angus Deaton
Paul Collier has written another brilliant, must-read book for anyone interested in human progress. In Left Behind, Collier offers a constructive path forward for the worst afflicted and most impoverished regions of the world. I greatly enjoyed this book, you will too -- Baroness Dambisa Moyo
Collier's Left Behind is a MUST READ reminding all of us to hold onto hope, chronicling stories of communities that are progressing against the odds -- Sylvana Quader Sinha

Author Bio

Paul Collier is Professor of Economics and Public Policy at Oxford University's Blavatnik School of Government. He is the author of The Future of Capitalism (Handesblatt Prize) and The Bottom Billion (Arthur Ross Prize) both widely translated. He works with governments and communities around the world. A communitarian, he was awarded the Adam Smith Prize by Glasgow's Philosophical Society (2023) and the Global Citizenship Award by Belgium's cooperative movement (2018).