Book Review More Than Good Intention: How A New Economics Is Helping To Solve Global Poverty

Book Review
More Than Good Intention: How a New Economics is Helping to Solve Global Poverty

For more than two decades micro-credits have become one of the leading solutions for development, since in appearance they are very easy to obtain, distribute, and give quick and groundbreaking results. However, although there is not doubt that micro-credits are a Nobel Prize worth idea, according toDean Karlan (author of the book being reviewed) there is still plenty of work to be done with microcredits, as well as to explore other opportunities that might have bigger potential if implemented correctly.
In relation to microloans, according to Karlan they have been not as successful as they could be due to major mismanagement issues. Therefore, it is necessary to revaluate many of itspractices in order to make them more effective; such as controlling expenditure, facilitating access to micro-loans, and rearranging group-payment methods. Nevertheless, the author also suggests new alternatives that could potentially give better solution to the same development issues. For example, facilitating savings accounts access, giving better access to fertilizers, widespread dewormingprograms, improving education quality, or improving access to clean water. This said, the following essay will be dedicated to analyze the flaws and strengths of the solutions to both micro-credits and general development proposed by Dean Karlan.
To start, it is important to note some of the biggest gaps found throughout the book. First, even though the author´s main topic is poverty, he never gives aclear definition of what he considers or understands as poverty; which results in his work being sometimes vague. It is true that poverty has come to be universally understood as everyone living with less than $2.50 a day. However, even when talking about poverty, you can be talking about “regular” poverty or extreme poverty, two very different issues that consequently need different solutions, andthat the author does not differentiate. Furthermore, for an author who classifies himself as a behavioral economist - the type of economics that tries to includes psychological patterns into economic modeling - by not giving a clear definition of poverty, he undermines the possibility of analyzing poverty form a different perspective, for example happiness, and just leaves the reader with thepure, but plain, economic definition.
Another big absence is the role of culture. Throughout the book, the author provides us with different examples that come from all regions of the world. Moreover, he is always stressing the idea that not every solution for development can be applied in every circumstance nor place, since the conditions vary all the time. Yet the author never mentions how culturecan also affect the outcome of a program to the point that it can make it a complete failure. For example, although the author mentions how people in general tend to lie about how they spend their money obtained by micro-loans, he never talks about how African´s time perception or Latin American family values can shape also the behavior of the people towards the author`s proposed solutions forreduction of poverty.
A third missing element is the inclusion of some stakeholders in the equation. At the beginning of the book the author posses a dilemma where a group of Buddhist monks liberate some of the fish the fishermen caught as a symbol of peacemaking with nature. As the story goes along, Karlan talks about how there could be better solution that could not only satisfy the spiritualneeds of the Buddhist monks, but also help improve the living conditions of the fishermen. However, the author never mentions how this fisherman-Buddhist monk relation could also affect market vendors or even the consumers. It is true that this story only refers to ideas dealt within the first chapters of the book, but unfortunately it becomes a trend through out the book to not include some, and...