The Future of Capitalism

Professor Paul Collier

Professor of economics and director of the Center for the Study of African Economies at Oxford University, Paul Collier – a former director of development research at the World Bank – also wrote the award-winning The Bottom Billion and Wars, Guns, and Votes: Democracy in Dangerous Places. Collier has spent his career researching and understanding the effects of developed nations’ wealth on the lives of the world’s poor. While these books are ideal starting places for further reading, Collier’s other worthy and timely titles include Exodus:How Migration Is Changing Our World and The Plundered Planet.

Esteem and Belonging

Collier opens by suggesting that harnessing the universal desire for social esteem and belonging can elicit fairer outcomes from current economic systems. He argues that regarding economics as a function of “self-interest” leads to inefficiencies for society and neglects a motivation that inspires people to improve their communities.