Paul Collier- 4 ways to improve the lives of the "bottom billion."



*** The question isn't how can we be optimistic but how can we give credible hope to those "bottom billion" individuals. This is a major challenge to development today.



*There are two ways to approach development:

1) Compassion: Allows us to get ourselves started.

2) Enlightened self interest: Allows us to get serious.



*The key to development today is to strengthen governance in those countries were the 'bottom billion' reside.



*We once thought that democracy would improve governance. Today, democracies make more of a mess than autocracies. Democracy is composed of two entities:

1) Electoral competition: How you get power.

2) Checks and balances: How you use that power.

Developing countries need more of 'checks and balances' but unfortunetely, what is happening most often are electoral competitions.



*There must be a need and trend towards informed societies otherwise politicians will have their way and propose mere guestures, things that look good but dont really work.