TED Talks - Paul Collier: 4 Ways to Improve the Lives of the "Bottom Billion"

A cool and inspirational TED Talk. He offers a worldcentric position on how to help the weakest and poorest of the Earth's citizens.

Around the world right now, one billion people are trapped in poor or failing countries. How can we help them? Economist Paul Collier lays out a bold, compassionate plan for closing the gap between rich and poor.

Collier studies the political and economic problems of the very poorest countries: 50 societies, many in sub-Saharan Africa, that are stagnating or in decline, and taking a billion people down with them. His book The Bottom Billion identifies the four traps that keep such countries mired in poverty, and outlines ways to help them escape, with a mix of direct aid and external support for internal change.

From 1998 to 2003, Collier was the director of the World Bank’s Development Research Group; he now directs the Centre for the Study of African Economies at Oxford, where he continues to advise policymakers.

Paul Collier on the Web

• Website: Paul Collier's homepage
• Book: The Bottom Billion

• Website: Centre for the Study of African Economies
• Lecture: "War and Peace in Africa"

Tags: TED Talks, Paul Collier, 4 Ways, Improve Lives, Bottom Billion, poverty, Politics, society, worldcentric, Centre for the Study of African Economies