Getting Ready for the Pope’s New Encyclical

As Policraticus noted on Thursday, it looks as if Pope Benedict’s new encyclical, to be released sometime in the next couple of months, will deal with the issue of development. There have been a number of good books on this topic in recent years… none of which I’ve read. Here, however, are a few audio interviews that may give those interested an idea of the basic issues and problems involved in current development economics and development programs: 

Here is Paul Collier discussing his book The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries are Failing and What Can Be Done About It. 

Here is William Easterly discussing his book The White Man’s Burden: Why the West’s Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good.  

Here is Karol Boudreaux discussing her research on property rights in Africa.