Big New Book Treads Old Economic Memes

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Dambisa Moyo (left): without change US will almost certainly become a socialist nation ... Dambisa Moyo is that rare type of person – an economist who makes waves. Her first book, Dead Aid, angered many in the charity sector by arguing that foreign aid has harmed Africa and should be phased out. Her second, which is published in London on Thursday, accuses America and other Western powers of squandering their world economic dominance through a sustained catalogue of fundamentally flawed policies. How the West Was Lost: Fifty Years of Economic Folly – And the Stark Choices Ahead goes so far as to predict that the US will be a "bona fide socialist welfare state" by the latter part of this century. "Indeed, if nothing else changes it from its current path," writes Moyo, "it is almost certain that America will move from a fully-fledged capitalist society of entrepreneurs to a socialist nation in just a few decades. – UK Telegraph

Dominant Social Theme: The West faces great challenges and must change its ways.

Free-Market Analysis: Dambisa Moyo's first book, Dead Aid, was certainly impressive. Moyo, a woman of color with a distinguished background, was not afraid to explain how Western aid was hurting impoverished countries. The accusations carried weight, and many have been eagerly awaiting her next book, How the West Was Lost. The Telegraph's review, excerpted above, is an advance one. But it does provide clues as to what Moyo has produced as a follow up.

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