The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries Are Failing and What Can Be Done About It

While many countries have recently experienced rapid growth and improved living standards through the benefits of globalization, there remains a group of extremely poor nations that are mired in poverty. For these “bottom billion,” as defined by Paul Collier, director of the Center for the Study of African Economics at Oxford University, traditional approaches to alleviating poverty have failed, and policymakers and development experts struggle to find new solutions to enable their growth and development.

On September 25, the Global Economy and Development program at Brookings hosted Collier, author of the new book The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries Are Failing and What Can Be Done About It, to discuss why this group of small nations poses the central challenge to the developing world in the 21st century and to propose a plan for resolving it. Collier was joined by Lael Brainard, Vice President and Director of Global Economy and Development; Brookings Senior Fellow Charles Griffin; and Gobind Nankani, President of Global Development Network.