It is easy to be pessimistic about the effectiveness of
traditional international development efforts. After decades of
effort and hundreds of billions of dollars, too many people
around the world live in poverty, suffer from disease, and lack
the economic, social, and political opportunities that those of
us in developed countries enjoy. Stephen Radelet, former chief
economist for USAID and author of the book Emerging Africa: How
17 Countries are Leading the Way, tells a very different story:
we are living in a great era of global development. At a recent
talk at Georgetown University, Radelet argued persuasively that
“there has never been a time when there has been such income
growth and economic growth in low-income countries,” where the
standard of living has tripled since 1960. The growth has been
even more dramatic since the turn of the 21st century: in the
last 15 years, the number of people in absolute poverty has
fallen by 1/3. Health outcomes have also improved — infant
mortality, while still far to