Bill Gates's Five Books for Summer Reading 2019

From world-renowned economist Paul Collier, a candid diagnosis of the failures of capitalism and a pragmatic and realistic vision for how we can repair it.

Deep new rifts are tearing apart the fabric of the United States and other Western societies: thriving cities versus rural counties, the highly skilled elite versus the less educated, wealthy versus developing countries. As these divides deepen, we have lost the sense of ethical obligation to others that was crucial to the rise of post-war social democracy. So far these rifts have been answered only by the revivalist ideologies of populism and socialism, leading to the seismic upheavals of Trump, Brexit, and the return of the far-right in Germany. We have heard many critiques of capitalism but no one has laid out a realistic way to fix it, until now.

In a passionate and polemical book, celebrated economist Paul Collier outlines brilliantly original and ethical ways of healing these rifts—economic, social and cultural—with the cool head of pragmatism, rather than the fervor of ideological revivalism. He reveals how he has personally lived across these three divides, moving from working-class Sheffield to hyper-competitive Oxford, and working between Britain and Africa, and acknowledges some of the failings of his profession.

Drawing on his own solutions as well as ideas from some of the world’s most distinguished social scientists, he shows us how to save capitalism from itself—and free ourselves from the intellectual baggage of the twentieth century.

“Collier has made a substantial contribution to current discussions. His evidence-based approach is a worthwhile corrective to the assumptions about democracy that too often tend to dominate when Western policy makers talk about the bottom billion.” —The New York Times Book Review

“Before President Obama makes a move he would do well to read Professor Paul Collier’s Wars, Guns, and Votes. . . Unlike many academics Collier comes up with very concrete proposals and some ingenious solutions.” — The Times (London)

In Wars, Guns, and Votes, esteemed author Paul Collier offers a groundbreaking, radical look at the world’s most violent, corrupt societies, how they got that way, and what can be done to break the cycle. George Soros calls Paul Collier “one of the most original minds in the world today,” and Wars, Guns, and Votes, like Collier’s previous award-winning book The Bottom Billion, is essential reading for anyone interested in current events, war, poverty, economics, or international business.

Pese a las muchas críticas que soporta el sistema capitalista, nadie parecía tener un plan realista para repararlo.

Hasta ahora.

En su nuevo trabajo, tan polémico como apasionado, el célebre economista Paul Collier plantea, mediante un enfoque racional, originales métodos para salvar las escisiones económicas, sociales y culturales que gobiernan el seno de la sociedad Occidental, y nos invita a ser testigos de su experiencia personal enfrentando estas brechas. Partiendo de sus propias soluciones y de las ideas de algunos de los sociólogos más distinguidos a nivel mundial, Collier nos hace poseedores de las claves que pueden salvar al capitalismo de sí mismo y que pueden liberarnos a todos del bagaje intelectual del siglo xx.

Este provocador libro nos da las claves para reparar el sistema.

Reseñas:
«La política de centroizquierda lleva treinta años buscando un texto que aclare de una vez por todas lo que está pasando con la economía de mercado. Con este libro lo han encontrado.»
John Kay

«Para los ciudadanos adinerados, el capitalismo es una fuente de riqueza interminable, mientras que, para muchos otros, es un sistema del todo inefectivo. Paul Collier despliega en este libro toda su pasión, en igual medida que su pragmatismo y su conocimiento de la economía, para proponer una solución a las divisiones causantes de la inestabilidad de muchísimos países occidentales.»
Mervyn King

«Estos tiempos necesitan desesperadamente la visión de Paul Collier. Su nueva obra restaura el sentido común sobre nuestra percepción de la moralidad, al mismo tiempo que describe su papel fundamental en el funcionamiento de familias, organizaciones y naciones. Es la obra más revolucionaria sobre ciencias sociales desde Keynes. Esperemos que sea igual de influyente.»
George Akerlof

«Esta obra es una atrevida provocación al intelecto. En ella, Paul Collier, el distinguido economista, se aventura en el terreno de la ética para explicar por qué el capitalismo se ha corrompido y para aportar sus soluciones. Si queremos salvar la brecha entre las élites metropolitanas y el resto de ciudadanos, Collier sostiene que debemos redescubrir el sentido de la pertenencia, del patriotismo y de la reciprocidad. Mientras proporciona creativas soluciones para este impasse, nos enseña cómo la máxima expresión de la economía es inseparable de la moral y de la filosofía política.»
Michael Sandel

«Este libro es admirable en muchos sentidos: su amplísima aproximación ética a la economía, el abanico de temas económicos, sociales y políticos que trata, y el análisis de la actual economía de aglomeración.»
Martin Wolf, Financial Times

«Este libro, increíblemente coherente y conciso, es un grito de ira apenas reprimido [...]»
Dominic Lawson, The Sunday Times

«No es una lectura ligera, pero es sin duda imprescindible.»
David Goodhart, Evening Standard

«Collier nos regala una obra excepcional en un contexto marcado por el agitado debate sobre el capitalismo y su futuro.

Paul Collier’s contributions to development economics,and in regard to Africa in particular, have marked him out as one of the most influential commentators of recent times. His research has centred upon the causes and consequences of civil war, the effects of aid, and the problems of democracy in low-income and natural-resource-rich societies. His work has also enjoyed substantial policy impact, having seen him sit as a senior adviser to Tony Blair’s Commission on Africa and addressed the General Assembly of the United Nations

This collection of Collier’s major writings, with assistance from Anke Hoeffler and Jan Gunning, and accompanied by a new introduction, provide the definitive account of a wide range of macroeconomic, microeconomic and political economy topics concerned with Africa. Within macroeconomics, there is a focus on external shocks, exchange rate and trade policies, whilst microeconomic topics focus upon labour and financial markets, as well as rural development. Collier’s book The Bottom Billion had become a landmark book and this summation of the research underpinning it will be a superb guide for all those concerned with African development.

«Il più rivoluzionario contributo nel campo delle scienze sociali dopo Keynes» George A. Akerlof, Premio Nobel 2001

Uno dei più autorevoli economisti del panorama scientifico mondiale riflette sui fallimenti del capitalismo con una proposta pragmatica in grado di correggerne i difetti. A partire da un assunto fondamentale: oltre che produrre profitti e lavoro, per funzionare il capitalismo deve essere necessariamente etico.

«In questo coraggioso lavoro, Paul Collier si avventura nel territorio dell'etica per spiegare cosa c'è di sbagliato nel capitalismo e come può essere corretto.»
Michael Sandel

Nuove e profonde contrapposizioni lacerano il tessuto sociale delle società occidentali: grandi città contro province povere, élite altamente specializzate contro masse di lavoratori poco qualificati, paesi ricchi contro paesi poveri. Queste lacerazioni generano nuove ansie, nuova rabbia e nuove passioni politiche, come testimonia l'ondata di consensi ricevuti dai populisti di tutto il mondo, da Trump al partito della Brexit, sino all'estrema destra italiana. In questo libro appassionato e polemico, Paul Collier, uno dei maggiori esperti mondiali su povertà e migrazioni, prova a delineare i percorsi attraverso i quali superare queste nuove fratture economiche, sociali e culturali. Solo se il capitalismo riesce a darsi un fondamento etico tale da rendersi equo e compassionevole, e non solo efficiente ed economicamente fiorente, potrà garantire una vita degna. Un capitalismo in cui la dignità e la reciprocità prevalgano sull'aggressività, sulla paura e sull'umiliazione, caratteri tipici della nostra 'società dei rottweiler'.

Seit Jahren wird die Flüchtlingspolitik weltweit von einer »Politik des herzlosen Kopfes« bestimmt – bevor sie sich im Sommer 2015, vor allem in Deutschland, dann plötzlich in eine »Politik des kopflosen Herzens« verwandelte. Beides ist gefährlich, für die Flüchtlinge, die aufnehmenden Länder und die Heimatländer der Fliehenden. Statt wahllos Menschen ins Land zu lassen oder sie jahrzehntelang in Lagern oder Unterkünften zu verwahren, brauchen wir einen anderen Umgang mit Flüchtlingen. Wir müssen sie in die Lage versetzen, rasch wieder für sich selbst zu sorgen – und möglichst schnell in ihre Heimat zurückzukehren. Paul Collier und Alexander Betts ziehen in ihrem Buch eine schonungslose Bilanz der aktuellen Flüchtlingspolitik und zeigen, wie neue Regeln und Institutionen aussehen können, die ethische, humanitäre und ökonomische Überlegungen vereinen.