Doing bad by doing good : why humanitarian action fails / Christopher J. Coyne.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Coyne, Christopher J.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Humanitarian assistance--Economic aspects.

Humanitarian assistance.

Humanitarian intervention--Economic aspects.

Humanitarian intervention.

Economic assistance.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (273 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Stanford, CA : Stanford Economics and Finance, an imprint of Stanford University Press, 2013.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In 2010, Haiti was ravaged by a brutal earthquake that affected the lives of millions. The call to assist those in need was heard around the globe. Yet two years later humanitarian efforts led by governments and NGOs have largely failed. Resources are not reaching the needy due to bureaucratic red tape, and many assets have been squandered. How can efforts intended to help the suffering fail so badly? In this timely and provocative book, Christopher J. Coyne uses the economic way of thinking to explain why this and other humanitarian efforts that intend to do good end up doing nothing or causing harm. In addition to Haiti, Coyne considers a wide range of interventions. He explains why the U.S. government was ineffective following Hurricane Katrina, why the international humanitarian push to remove Muammar Gaddafi in Libya may very well end up causing more problems than prosperity, and why decades of efforts to respond to crises and foster development around the world have resulted in repeated failures. In place of the dominant approach to state-led humanitarian action, this book offers a bold alternative, focused on establishing an environment of economic freedom. If we are willing to experiment with aid—asking questions about how to foster development as a process of societal discovery, or how else we might engage the private sector, for instance—we increase the range of alternatives to help people and empower them to improve their communities. Anyone concerned with and dedicated to alleviating human suffering in the short term or for the long haul, from policymakers and activists to scholars, will find this book to be an insightful and provocative reframing of humanitarian action.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Acknowledgments

Contents

Preface

Introduction. A Living Example of the Puzzle

chapter 1. The Man of the Humanitarian System

chapter 2. The Evolution of Humanitarian Action

chapter 3. Adaptability and the Planner’s Problem

chapter 4. Political Competition Replaces Market Competition

chapter 5. The Bureaucracy of Humanitarianism

chapter 6. Killing People with Kindness

chapter 7. Solving the Puzzle

chapter 8. Rethinking the Man of the Humanitarian System

Notes

References

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 223-245) and index.

ISBN:

9780804786119

0804786119

OCLC:

840569803