Economic Gangsters : Corruption, Violence, and the Poverty of Nations (New in Paper)

Meet the economic gangster. He's the United Nations diplomat who double-parks his Mercedes on New York City streets at rush hour because the cops can't touch him—he has diplomatic immunity. He's the Chinese smuggler who dodges tariffs by magically transforming frozen chickens into frozen turkeys. The dictator, the warlord, the unscrupulous bureaucrat who bilks the developing world of billions in aid. The calculating crook who views stealing and murder as just another part of his business strategy. And, in the wrong set of circumstances, he might just be you. In Economic Gangsters , Raymond Fisman and Edward Miguel take readers into the secretive, chaotic, and brutal worlds inhabited by these lawless and violent thugs. Join these two sleuthing economists as they follow the foreign aid money trail into the grasping hands of corrupt governments and shady underworld characters. Spend time with ingenious black marketeers as they game the international system. Follow the steep rise and fall of stock prices of companies with unseemly connections to Indonesia's former dictator. See for yourself what rainfall has to do with witch killings in Tanzania—and more. Fisman and Miguel use economics to get inside the heads of these "gangsters," and propose solutions that can make a difference to the world's poor—including cash infusions to defuse violence in times of drought, and steering the World Bank away from aid programs most susceptible to corruption. In a new postscript, the authors look at how economists might use new tools to better understand, and fight back against, corruption and violence in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. Take an entertaining walk on the dark side of global economic development with Economic Gangsters .

"I already knew Fisman and Miguel were the best and the brightest in the new generation of development economists. Now I know they are great writers--and great detectives. They find ingenious ways to get inside the issues of corruption and violence that leave behind the tired analyses of the past. It's a lively tale that nobody concerned about world poverty or violence can afford to miss."--William Easterly, author of The White Man's Burden

"Economic Gangsters reveals the important connections between poverty, crime, and corruption, helping us to see what a small and intertwined world we live in."--Dan Ariely, author of Predictably Irrational

"Economic Gangsters is a fascinating exploration of the dark side of economic development. Two of the world's most creative young economists use their remarkable talents for economic sleuthing to study violence, corruption, and poverty in the most unexpected ways. Subjected to their genius, seemingly inconsequential events (like New York City parking tickets and Suharto's catching a cold) become potent tools in understanding how the world really works. Rarely has a book on economics been this fun and this important."--Steven D. Levitt, coauthor of Freakonomics

"Those who love to pontificate, unconstrained by data, about the nature of human evil, will hate this book. It takes on corruption, murder, and civil wars, and shows us, step by step, how economic methods, creatively used, can help us find relevant data in unexpected places, data that makes it possible to offer rigorous (and sometimes surprising) answers to questions that, hitherto, had been consigned to the realm of pure speculation."--Abhijit Banerjee, director of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Publishers Weekly

Starred Review.

In this surprisingly spry read, authors and economics professors Fisman and Miguel tackle economic development issues in Africa, Asia and Latin America, beginning with the question: after decades of independence and billions in foreign aid, why are so many developing countries still mired in poverty? A big reason, they contend, is corruption. Looking at specific examples, Fisman and Miguel examine various methods and motives of corruption, how agencies counteract it, and what it means with regard to human nature and the fate of nations. Fascinating insights abound: the high correlation between UN diplomats' parking violations and corruption in the home country; the successful public shaming techniques used by Bogata's Mayor Antanas Mockus to reduce criminality; the drastic reduction in road building corruption resulting from Indonesia's simple statement that projects would be audited. Ultimately, Fisman and Miguel conclude that there's not enough verifiable, reproducible results to say whether poverty is intractable and corruption inevitable, or whether poor countries remain poor because they haven't received enough quality aid. Instead, they argue forcefully for more blind trials in economics research to evaluate various development approaches. This thorough, thoughtful guide to global corruption is an engaging, disarmingly upbeat read for fans of Freakonomics and Malcolm Gladwell.
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Getting inside the heads of the developing world's dictators, warlords, and corrupt politiciansMeet the economic gangster. He's the United Nations diplomat who double-parks his Mercedes on New York City streets at rush hour because the cops can't touch him—he has diplomatic immunity. He's the Chinese smuggler who dodges tariffs by magically transforming frozen chickens into frozen turkeys. The dictator, the warlord, the unscrupulous bureaucrat who bilks the developing world of billions in aid. The calculating crook who views stealing and murder as just another part of his business strategy. And, in the wrong set of circumstances, he might just be you.In Economic Gangsters, Raymond Fisman and Edward Miguel take readers into the secretive, chaotic, and brutal worlds inhabited by these lawless and violent thugs. Join these two sleuthing economists as they follow the foreign aid money trail into the grasping hands of corrupt governments and shady underworld characters. Spend time with ingenious black marketeers as they game the international system. Follow the steep rise and fall of stock prices of companies with unseemly connections to Indonesia's former dictator. See for yourself what rainfall has to do with witch killings in Tanzania—and more.Fisman and Miguel use economics to get inside the heads of these'gangsters,'and propose solutions that can make a difference to the world's poor—including cash infusions to defuse violence in times of drought, and steering the World Bank away from aid programs most susceptible to corruption.In a new postscript, the authors look at how economists might use new tools to better understand, and fight back against, corruption and violence in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. Take an entertaining walk on the dark side of global economic development with Economic Gangsters. Meet the economic gangster. He's the United Nations diplomat who double-parks his Mercedes on New York City streets at rush hour because the cops cant touch him--he has diplomatic immunity. Hes the Chinese smuggler who dodges tariffs by magically transforming frozen chickens into frozen turkeys. The dictator, the warlord, the unscrupulous bureaucrat who bilks the developing world of billions in aid. The calculating crook who views stealing and murder as just another part of his business strategy. And, in the wrong set of circumstances, he might just be you. In Economic Gangsters , Raymond Fisman and Edward Miguel take readers into the secretive, chaotic, and brutal worlds inhabited by these lawless and violent thugs. Join these two sleuthing economists as they follow the foreign aid money trail into the grasping hands of corrupt governments and shady underworld characters. Spend time with ingenious black marketeers as they game the international system. Follow the steep rise and fall of stock prices of companies with unseemly connections to Indonesias former dictator. See for yourself what rainfall has to do with witch killings in Tanzania--and more. Fisman and Miguel use economics to get inside the heads of these "gangsters," and propose solutions that can make a difference to the worlds poor--including cash infusions to defuse violence in times of drought, and steering the World Bank away from aid programs most susceptible to corruption. Take an entertaining walk on the dark side of global economic development with Economic Gangsters . "Meet the economic gangster. He's the United Nations diplomat who double-parks his Mercedes on New York City streets at rush hour because the cops can't touch him - he has diplomatic immunity. He's the Chinese smuggler who dodges tariffs by magically transforming frozen chickens into frozen turkeys. The dictator, the warlord, the unscrupulous bureaucrat who bilks the developing world of billions in aid. The calculating crook who views stealing and murder as just another part of his business strategy. And, in the wrong set of circumstances, he might just be you." "In Economic Gangsters, Raymond Fisman and Edward Miguel take readers into the secretive, chaotic, and brutal worlds inhabited by these lawless and violent thugs. Join these two sleuthing economists as they follow the foreign aid money trail into the grasping hands of corrupt governments and shady underworld characters. Spend time with ingenious black marketeers as they game the international system. Follow the steep rise and fall of stock prices of companies with unseemly connections to Indonesia's former dictator. See for yourself what rainfall has to do with witch killings in Tanzania - and more."--Jacket Chapter One: Fighting For Economic Development 1 Chapter Two: Suharto, Inc. 22 Chapter Three: The Smuggling Gap 53 Chapter Four: Nature or Nurture? Understanding the Culture of Corruption 76 Chapter Five: No Water, No Peace 111 Chapter Six: Death by a Thousand Small Cuts 136 Chapter Seven: The Road Back From War 159 Chapter Eight: Learning to Fight Economic Gangsters 186 Epilogue: Doing Better This Time 207 Acknowledgments 211 Notes 215 Index 235 Contents 5 Chapter One: Fighting for Economic Development 6 Chapter Two: Suharto, Inc. 27 Chapter Three: The Smuggling Gap 58 Chapter Four: Nature or Nurture? Understanding the Culture of Corruption 81 Chapter Five: No Water, No Peace 116 Chapter Six: Death by a Thousand Small Cuts 141 Chapter Seven: The Road Back from War 164 Chapter Eight: Learning to Fight Economic Gangsters 191 Epilogue: Doing Better this Time 212 Acknowledgments 216 Notes 219 Index 238 Follows the foreign aid money trail into the grasping hands of corrupt governments and shady underworld characters. This book proposes solutions that can make a difference to the world's poor - including cash infusions to defuse violence in times of drought, and steering the World Bank away from aid programs that are susceptible to corruption