The Myth of Development Non-Viable Economies and the Crisis of Civilization, Second Edition

by De Rivero, Oswaldo

• ISBN13: 9781848135840
• ISBN10: 184813584X
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-09-15
• Publisher: UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS

Summary

The message of this courageous classic book is that the benefits of development, so long promised over the past sixty years, have not come about for most people. Nor are they going to. State-driven and market-led development models have both failed. Many countries, and their cities in particular, are collapsing into ungovernable chaotic entities under the control of warlords and mafias. Oswaldo de Rivero argues that the "wealth of nations" agenda must be replaced by a "survival of nations" agenda. In order to prevent increasing human misery and political disorder, many countries must abandon dreams of development and adopt instead a policy of national survival based on providing basic water, food and energy, and stabilizing their populations. This much-anticipated new edition not only features updated figures and statistics, but also original new writing on the most essential new issues for the development myth, including emerging economies, the global economic crises, environmental issues and particularly, climate change.

Author Biography

Oswaldo de Rivero is a Diplomat, Ambassador (retired) with the Foreign Service of Peru. He has written numerous essays and articles in Le Monde Diplomatique, The UNESCO Courier, as well as the written press in Geneva and Latin America.

Table of Contents

Introduction
1: The Twilight of the Nation-State
2: Global Empowerment and National Impoverishment
3: International Darwinism
4: The Search for El Dorado
5: Human and Natural Depredation
6: The Crisis of the California Model
Index