Why Poor Countries Are Poor? Book Review Samples

Summary Chapter Eight

The main reason of chapter 8 is explaining reasons why some countries are poor. The writer analyses this issue based on Mancur Olson’s theory. He is in Cameroon and describing all the things he sees during his trip and investigating the reasons from inside.
Improving the situation in poor countries for the better is required to be catching up with rich countries because they can bring new investments. Consequently a base will be formed for infrastructure, as infrastructure develops a new technologies will be in high demand, as a result educational institutions will show progress as it happened in China, Singapore, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. In this case Cameroon gets money from developed from the World Bank, France and France but because of corruption they are still poor and getting even poorer. Corruption and bribery are the first reason to stay poor as it is seen in every level of Cameroon; in roads, in behavior of policemen, in case of Nepal irrigation where no amount of technical infrastructure can save it from poverty. The second reason is geographical position of Cameroon. Climate doesn’t allow people live long and stay healthy enough to work because of different diseases. The third reason is dysfunctional institutions since wrong people are in charge in wrong places as a president, a school principal and many others, the development will always meet obstacles set by self-interested people. There is still a chance to improve economy by managing these barriers and creating conditions for foreign investments.
This book was really helpful for me to understand the root reasons of poorness in some countries. I thought that education and infrastructure are key factors to get rich for countries but now I know that corruption and bribery with climate stand before them. Moreover people’s mind, willing to improve the society, entrepreneurial spirit play irreplaceable role to get rid of poorness.