For a book on minimalism, this book misses the mark. The writing style is bloated and filled with self-indulging smugness, at least a hundred pages coFor a book on minimalism, this book misses the mark. The writing style is bloated and filled with self-indulging smugness, at least a hundred pages could have been shaved off to reach the core message and isn't that what minimalism is all about. I did like the message though, which has certainly influenced me to a degree. That will be all I'll write about this book though, being minimalistic and all....more
Though without a doubt a great achievement (six-hundred years of global history in as many pages), Darwin's work feels often more rambling than historThough without a doubt a great achievement (six-hundred years of global history in as many pages), Darwin's work feels often more rambling than history writing. There is no overarching theme, no theory upon which the conclusions are founded. This makes for a read which is easy to read in a sense (if one does not agree with one conclusion, one might more readily agree with another), it can also be hard to follow as you are thrown from one end of the world to another by the flip of a page. As such, it is only after page 250 or so, that some consistency comes into the story. By focusing more on the European-style imperialism and how some areas resisted and others more easily succumbed to the system, how it seemed an inevitability that the world entire would someday be part of the system, Darwin has a sense of a foundation on which to pay the rest of the book. This improvement in the second half is why I gave it three instead of two stars. In conclusion, it is a great birds-eye view of the world, what made empires work, how they differed from one another and eventually, how they will not last. By conveniently not going into either world wars, Darwin retains a better focus, again in the latter half of the book. In the end, I would not recommend it for those who are looking for a stronger methodological work into the essence of what makes an empire, but rather as an overview work....more
This Book is what Economics for Dummies should be. Instead of bombarding the reader with graphs and very dry and rather boring explanations, this bookThis Book is what Economics for Dummies should be. Instead of bombarding the reader with graphs and very dry and rather boring explanations, this book reads much more easily and is likewise much more welcoming on the subject of economics that is so often considered boring (hence the book's subtitle). It takes many different subjects and portrays them in interesting examples, with thorough, but very clear explanation. Topics include debt, international development, globalisation, economic incentives, free markets and trade. They offer great introductions into topics that one might want to become more involved in. The dash of humour found throughout the book certainly does not hurt either....more
An interesting, more technical read on the basic economics that drive development. The authors cover a wide spectrum of topics, with two over-arching An interesting, more technical read on the basic economics that drive development. The authors cover a wide spectrum of topics, with two over-arching themes ''Private Lives'' and ''Institutions. The former focuses primarily on the personal experience of the world's poor (what are their motivations? Their expectations? Their reasoning when it comes to food and family planning), whereas the latter focuses the often cited importance of institutions. The book makes a rightful claim about this latter being vague. What is an institution? Is it the ''government'' and thus political, or is it economical? Within this chapter, the main emphasis lies on a few smaller topics, to really break this question on institutions down. Micro-credit, entrepreneurship, policymaking/bureacracy, financial savings and insurance are the most important ones. Based on looking at these topics, how they are provided for, for poor people (defined as those living on 99 cents a day or less) the authors offer a very interesting insight, placing themselves in the middle between the Easterly vs. Sachs development debate. In the end, they break it down to five rationalizations on why the poor are poor. I won't go into detail what these are, that's what the book is for. My personal opinion on the book however, is quite positive. Despite becoming a bit too technical for me here and there (which is more a lack of economic knowledge on my part), the book makes a clear point for incremental change at the local level, rather than global sweeping changes within development. It is an interesting nuance of both the pessimist Easterly and optimist Sachs and therefore a good read for anyone remotely interested in global development....more
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