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Charles Kenny

Getting Better: Why Global Development Is Succeeding--And How We Can Improve the World Even More Paperback – December 4, 2012

by Charles Kenny (Author)

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As the income gap between developed and developing nations grows, so grows the cacophony of voices claiming that the quest to find a simple recipe for economic growth has failed. Getting Better, in sharp contrast, reports the good news about global progress. Economist Charles Kenny argues against development naysayers by pointing to the evidence of widespread improvements in health, education, peace, liberty -- and even happiness.

Kenny shows how the spread of cheap technologies, such as vaccines and bed nets, and ideas, such as political rights, has transformed the world. He also shows that by understanding this transformation, we can make the world an even better place to live.

That's not to say that life is grand for everyone, or that we don't have a long way to go. But improvements have spread far, and, according to Kenny, they can spread even further.

Print length

272 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Basic Books
Publication date

December 4, 2012
Grade level

8 and up
Reading age

13 years and up
Dimensions

5.5 x 0.68 x 8.25 inches
ISBN-10

046503103X
ISBN-13

978-0465031030
See all details

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Editorial Reviews

Review

Jeni Klugman, Director and Lead Author, Human Development Report, United Nations Development Programme
This book is an important and welcome counterweight to much of the doom and gloom that pervades popular and policy discussions about Africa. It makes important contributions in documenting the major advances in aspects of human development that have intrinsic valuehealth, knowledge and empowermentthat have been experienced by people in the poorest parts of the world, drawing attention to the role of ideas and innovation. Yet Charles Kenny does not shy away from the fact that, as underlined by the 2010 Human Development Report, not all good things go together.The extent of poverty and inequality, including but not only in terms of incomes but other dimensions of well being, remains a major concern. There are important implications for policy makers in developing countries, and the basic message of realistic optimism should inform all those interested in development assistance and ways to sustain progress in the future."
William Easterly, Professor of Economics at New York University and author ofThe White Man s Burden: Why the West s Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little GoodandThe Elusive Quest for Growth: Economists Adventures and Misadventures in the Tropics
Gloom and doom have long been the default view of global poverty. It would take aclear-eyed and courageous researcher to show that the orthodox viewpoint is wrong. Such a researcher has finally appeared in Charles Kenny, who shows convincingly that most trends inhuman well-being worldwide, and region by region, are happily, dramatically positive. Read this delightful book and you will never look at global economic development the same way again.
Tyler Cowen, Holbert C. Harris Professor of Economics, George Mason University
Charles Kenny is one of the best and deepest writers on economic growth and its relationship to quality of life in the modern world. This book represents the pinnacle of his thought.
Felix Salmon, finance blogger forReuters
This nuanced and brilliant book is a must-read for anybody who wants to understand the complexity of development. Kenny doesn t traffic in trite or facile diagnoses or solutions; instead, he compellingly lays out both the obstacles to success and the good reasons to be hopeful. I learned more from this book than from any other book I ve ever read: it s chock-full of important facts, corralled masterfully. Enjoy, and be illuminated!
Nancy Birdsall, President of the Center for Global Development
Getting Better is a wonderful book: a great read, a compelling argument, and what will be a controversial bottom line that growth is not after all necessary for poverty reduction. In a surprising riposte to GDP-focused economists and aid skeptics, Charles Kenny brings readers not just Malthus, Arthur Lewis, Sen and Sachs, but Kipling, Tolstoy, and the unfortunate Mungo Park. Here is a thoughtful and sweeping take on what we don t know about why countries grow and what we do know about how ideas and technology and yes aid are improving lives everywhere.
Kirkus
"A World Bank economist s insightful examination of the effectiveness of global development.... Relying on a relaxed approach flecked with sarcasm and wit, Kenny s accessible and generally jargon-free prose easily guides readers through the contentious and political aspects of global development and the ideologies competing to control it. A poignant and optimistic rebuttal to critics of global development.
The Guardian (UK)
After plenty of aid pessimism, here is a relentlessly cheerful polemic, Getting Better, which is delighting development experts in the US and the UK. Charles Kenny's book celebrates an era of unprecedented human development.... [And] has a very serious and really important point to make.
Financial Times
Getting Better seems likely to become a canonical addition to the development literature. It sets out a manageable thesis, argues it vigorously and with optimism, realism and humility a refreshing combination in any field, and particularly one like international development, too often marked by hubristic confidence or histrionic despair.
Bill Gates, Wall Street Journal
Elegant and deeply researched.... The case made by Mr. Kenny in Getting Better is a powerful antidote to overly gloomy assessments of development aid.... After years of doom and gloom on the subject of foreign aid, it is refreshing to find so thoughtful and contrarian an approach to the topic. Charles Kenny shines a light on the real successes of aid, and he shows us the benefits that additional smart investment can bring.
Foreign Affairs
From time to time, it is useful to stand back from the weekly reports of crises around the world and ask how the human race is really doing. Kenny, a World Bank economist, does this magnificently in this well-written book.... Kenny offers a lighthearted critical survey of what economists have had to say about the determinants of economic growth, but he argues that growth, although important and desirable, should not be the main objective.
Mark Bittman, Opinionator column, New York Times
Original, unusual and radical thinking
David Leonhardt, New York Times Washington Bureau Chief
There is no more important topic than the living standards of the world s seven billion people...and Kenny offers a concise, well-written, fresh take: Life has improved more than is commonly understood, and yet not nearly enough, given our resources and knowledge.
"

Jeni Klugman, Director and Lead Author, Human Development Report, United Nations Development Programme
This book is an important and welcome counterweight to much of the doom and gloom that pervades popular and policy discussions about Africa. It makes important contributions in documenting the major advances in aspects of human development that have intrinsic valuehealth, knowledge and empowermentthat have been experienced by people in the poorest parts of the world, drawing attention to the role of ideas and innovation. Yet Charles Kenny does not shy away from the fact that, as underlined by the 2010 Human Development Report, not all good things go together.The extent of poverty and inequality, including but not only in terms of incomes but other dimensions of well being, remains a major concern. There are important implications for policy makers in developing countries, and the basic message of realistic optimism should inform all those interested in development assistance and ways to sustain progress in the future."
William Easterly, Professor of Economics at New York University and author of"The White Man s Burden: Why the West s Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good"and"The Elusive Quest for Growth: Economists Adventures and Misadventures in the Tropics"
Gloom and doom have long been the default view of global poverty. It would take aclear-eyed and courageous researcher to show that the orthodox viewpoint is wrong. Such a researcher has finally appeared in Charles Kenny, who shows convincingly that most trends inhuman well-being worldwide, and region by region, are happily, dramatically positive. Read this delightful book and you will never look at global economic development the same way again.
Tyler Cowen, Holbert C. Harris Professor of Economics, George Mason University
Charles Kenny is one of the best and deepest writers on economic growth and its relationship to quality of life in the modern world. This book represents the pinnacle of his thought.
Felix Salmon, finance blogger for"Reuters"
This nuanced and brilliant book is a must-read for anybody who wants to understand the complexity of development. Kenny doesn t traffic in trite or facile diagnoses or solutions; instead, he compellingly lays out both the obstacles to success and the good reasons to be hopeful. I learned more from this book than from any other book I ve ever read: it s chock-full of important facts, corralled masterfully. Enjoy, and be illuminated!
Nancy Birdsall, President of the Center for Global Development
"Getting Better" is a wonderful book: a great read, a compelling argument, and what will be a controversial bottom line that growth is not after all necessary for poverty reduction. In a surprising riposte to GDP-focused economists and aid skeptics, Charles Kenny brings readers not just Malthus, Arthur Lewis, Sen and Sachs, but Kipling, Tolstoy, and the unfortunate Mungo Park. Here is a thoughtful and sweeping take on what we don t know about why countries grow and what we do know about how ideas and technology and yes aid are improving lives everywhere.
"Kirkus"
"A World Bank economist s insightful examination of the effectiveness of global development.... Relying on a relaxed approach flecked with sarcasm and wit, Kenny s accessible and generally jargon-free prose easily guides readers through the contentious and political aspects of global development and the ideologies competing to control it. A poignant and optimistic rebuttal to critics of global development.
"The Guardian" (UK)
After plenty of aid pessimism, here is a relentlessly cheerful polemic, "Getting Better," which is delighting development experts in the US and the UK. Charles Kenny's book celebrates an era of unprecedented human development.... [And] has a very serious and really important point to make.
"Financial Times"
"Getting Better" seems likely to become a canonical addition to the development literature. It sets out a manageable thesis, argues it vigorously and with optimism, realism and humility a refreshing combination in any field, and particularly one like international development, too often marked by hubristic confidence or histrionic despair.
Bill Gates, "Wall Street Journal"
Elegant and deeply researched.... The case made by Mr. Kenny in Getting Better is a powerful antidote to overly gloomy assessments of development aid.... After years of doom and gloom on the subject of foreign aid, it is refreshing to find so thoughtful and contrarian an approach to the topic. Charles Kenny shines a light on the real successes of aid, and he shows us the benefits that additional smart investment can bring.
"Foreign Affairs"
From time to time, it is useful to stand back from the weekly reports of crises around the world and ask how the human race is really doing. Kenny, a World Bank economist, does this magnificently in this well-written book.... Kenny offers a lighthearted critical survey of what economists have had to say about the determinants of economic growth, but he argues that growth, although important and desirable, should not be the main objective.
Mark Bittman, Opinionator column, "New York Times"
Original, unusual and radical thinking
David Leonhardt, "New York Times" Washington Bureau Chief
There is no more important topic than the living standards of the world s seven billion people...and Kenny offers a concise, well-written, fresh take: Life has improved more than is commonly understood, and yet not nearly enough, given our resources and knowledge.
"

Jeni Klugman, Director and Lead Author, Human Development Report, United Nations Development Programme
"This book is an important and welcome counterweight to much of the doom and gloom that pervades popular and policy discussions about Africa. It makes important contributions in documenting the major advances in aspects of human development that have intrinsic value--health, knowledge and empowerment--that have been experienced by people in the poorest parts of the world, drawing attention to the role of ideas and innovation. Yet Charles Kenny does not shy away from the fact that, as underlined by the 2010 Human Development Report, not all good things go together. The extent of poverty and inequality, including but not only in terms of incomes but other dimensions of well being, remains a major concern. There are important implications for policy makers in developing countries, and the basic message of realistic optimism should inform all those interested in development assistance and ways to sustain progress in the future."William Easterly, Professor of Economics at New York University and author of "The White Man's Burden: Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good" and "The Elusive Quest for Growth: Economists' Adventures and Misadventures in the Tropics" "Gloom and doom have long been the default view of global poverty. It would take a clear-eyed and courageous researcher to show that the orthodox viewpoint is wrong. Such a researcher has finally appeared in Charles Kenny, who shows convincingly that most trends in human well-being worldwide, and region by region, are happily, dramatically positive. Read this delightful book and you will never look at global economic development the same way again." Tyler Cowen, Holbert C. Harris Professor of Economics, George Mason University
"Charles Kenny is one of the best and deepest writers on economic growth and its relationship to quality of life in the modern world. This bo

About the Author

Charles Kenny, previously a senior economist at the World Bank, is now a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development and a columnist for Bloomberg Businessweek and Foreign Policy magazines. He lives in Washington, DC.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Basic Books (December 4, 2012)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 272 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 046503103X
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0465031030
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 13 years and up
Grade level ‏ : ‎ 8 and up
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 11.5 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.68 x 8.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,794,663 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,526 in Poverty
- #1,655 in Development & Growth Economics (Books)
- #2,494 in Globalization & Politics

Customer Reviews:
24 ratings

About the author

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Charles Kenny

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Charles Kenny spent fifteen years as an economist in the World Bank, travelling the planet from Baghdad and Kabul to Brasilia and Beijing. He now works at a Washington DC think tank, the Center for Global Development, where he researches and advocates for policies governing investment, trade, technology and migration that would be good for both developing and industrialized countries alike. In addition, he is a widely cited researcher on the economics of happiness. He has a history degree from Cambridge University, Masters degrees from the School of Oriental and African Studies in London and the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and a PhD from Cambridge University.

Charles was a contributing editor at Foreign Policy magazine and a columnist for Bloomberg Business¸ where he wrote on global development and its impact on the US. He also writes for outlets including the Economist, the Wall Street Journal, Politico, the Washington Post, the Atlantic, Time, the Guardian, Vox, Salon and CNN.

He keeps a personal blog at http://www.charleskenny.blogs.com/

Customer reviews

5 star		75%
4 star		19%
3 star		3%
2 star		3%
1 star 0% (0%)		0%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Kenneth W Dahl

Brilliant, Focused, and Benevolent!

Reviewed in the United States on October 30, 2015

Verified Purchase

If you genuinely care about the world that will be here years after you have long-since passed on, then this book (along with "Abundance" from Peter Diamandis) is a MUST READ CAREFULLY piece of work. All too often I see less-than-supportive reviews being made on world-altering contributions like this because people are selfishly wanting to criticize form and literary style or get all hung up on the writer's delivery, completely failing to see not only the writer's heart, but the HUGE contribution they are leaving for future generations. Interestingly, most negative reviews never begin with the words, "Having published several of my own books..."
Most negative reviews will always come from those in the grand stands, not on the field with those like Charles Kenny who are making such a significant difference.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you for this valuable, powerful book!
Ken Dahl (author of "Rebuilding The Village")

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Chuck Lewis

Kenny does a very credible job in making the case ...

Reviewed in the United States on June 3, 2015

Verified Purchase

Kenny does a very credible job in making the case for development aid. Kenny shines a well researched "light" on the successes of foreign aid in contrast to the overly gloomy assessments advanced by some. Underlying his work, is the notion that standard of living of the world's seven billion people should be the highest aim of all our personal aspirations and goals.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Nathaniel Levin

A great update on an under-reported story

Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2011

Verified Purchase

Charles Kenny is a distinguished economist whose optimism is well grounded in reality. He skillfully debunks the myth that development aid is doomed to failure and a waste of money. This is an excellent supplement to the 2010 U.N. Human Development Report. Both books bring the little-recognized good news that over the last 40 years and more the world, in most places and on average, has indeed become much better. If we look past the dire headlines to the less widely reported truth, we come to understand that in fact the human race has achieved great things over the last generation or so. We are living in a goldent age, even if the New York Times does not choose to report it.

I'll quote some vital statistics from the latest UN HDR--Since 1970 (a) average life expectancy at birth has increased from 59 years to 70; (b) percentage of enrollment in school of high school aged kids has increased from 55% to 70%; and (c) per capita annual income has doubled from $5,000 to $10,000 (purchasing-power-adjusted).

Much of this amazing progress was possible (and will continue to be possible), as Kenny points out, because the costs for basics are or have become cheap. It doesn't cost much in local currency to staff a basic educational system, and low cost medical interventions can have a huge effect in raising the performance of developing world health systems.

Yes, there are still hundreds of millions who live in terrible poverty, there is extreme inequality, and the environmental sustainability of tthe world economy is in doubt. Nevertheless, as Kenny argues, there is reasons to hope that even the children of the poorest families will live better lives than their parents.

13 people found this helpful

Helpful

JOHN L EDMUNDSON

Great way of thinking about development and aid

Reviewed in the United States on September 15, 2013

Verified Purchase

While this book is a little repetitive, it certainly has a fresh take on how aid to developing countries can help, and what kind of aid works well, and what doesn't work. As a returned Peace Corps volunteer, it certainly rings true with what I saw and observed in my three years in Africa.

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

syna

well written?

Reviewed in the United States on September 6, 2012

Verified Purchase

up tp the 30%, it's interesting. got an impression that it was well written. backing up the point nicely.

but it gets a bit boring, cuz the author continues on repeating the same essentials in different points. it's awesome that s/he has evidences for every single point he makes except that it really boils down to the point s/he made in the beginning. and the later part gets not so much realistic or just feels like a pretty words.

for me, who haven't read any books about the 3rd world development, it was interesting.
i would recommend this to someone who's interested in this field but not so quite familiar and would recommend to read some parts of the book

Helpful

Incredibly Repetitive -

Reviewed in the United States on September 24, 2013

Author Kenny's message is an important one - that while Africa and many other areas have lagged in terms of income growth over recent decades, they have also seen unprecedented improvement in health and education, security, and human rights. The problem with this message is, that after presenting a few overall statistics in documentation, he goes on and on and on for another 200+ pages. Simply put, the book should be condensed to about two pages.

Here's the 30,000' overview: Since 1960, global average infant mortality has more than halved. The percentage of sub-Saharan Africans who could read and write doubled between 1970 and 1999, from less than one-third to two-thirds. Between 1962 and 2002, life expectancy in the Middle East and North Africa rose from 48 to 69 years. The percentage of the world's infants vaccinated with DPT rose from 20% to nearly 80% between 1970 and 2006.

10 people found this helpful

Helpful

John Martin

Excellent review of why and how the world is getting better

Reviewed in the United States on September 7, 2011

This book presents the case for why the world is getting better despite all the negativity we can see and read. Even Africa is improving. Kenny does of lot of historical comparisons to make his case. Certainly life is better for most people, even those in poor places, now as compared to several hundred years ago. Kenny says that the increasing disparity between income in the developed world and in the underdeveloped world is not really a serious problem because the things that really matter for a quality life--health, education, human rights--are all getting better for the poor as well as the rich. Good news, but sometimes his news is too good. For example the fact that many countries have signed various human rights documents does not mean that actually practice human rights.

Another good thing about the book: it is written in clear, simple language that anyone can understand.

Worth reading for anyone who wants to understand the world as it really is.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Lakeisha Davidson

Finally we get positive about development

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 17, 2013

Verified Purchase

I want to start by admitting that I did not feel a sudden enlightenment after reading this book, however, well done on the authors for finally bringing development in to a positive context. Many books on this subject can leave you drained, searching for an answer that is not simply to use a Swahili phrase "habari ndio hiyo" meaning this is simply the way things are is near impossible and can lead the undecided towards skepticism which essentially results in them doing nothing to solve life's inequalities (that may be harsh some of them sit at Costa and complain how futile any efforts to make things better are).

Read this book if you want a positive alternative to boost your motivation and to read about society's improvements based on absolute terms. If someone is volunteering for the first time, I would give them this book as I am sure they will pick up all the others later and can make an informed view for themselves.

jennie.phillips

Getting Better

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 27, 2013

Verified Purchase

Great to read an optimistic book about global issues at last. It was well written, arguments were clearly stated and not overly complicated. It has already been borrowed by several friends and family members!

See all reviews