Videos, Books and Essays

Here are some links to a number of useful essays, books and videos about the nature of our obligations to those living in extreme poverty. In time we hope to add more.

Books and Essays

• Famine, affluence, and morality, by Peter Singer

  This highly influential essay set in motion a public discussion about our obligations regarding global poverty. Prior to its publication, the issue of global poverty was not much discussed within the field of ethics. Singer changed this by forcefully arguing that donating to stop poverty was not merely a nice thing to do, but was morally urgent and that we all have an obligation to donate a large part of our income. Moreover, he did so without invoking a particular moral theory: he derives the obligation directly from our most basic shared moral beliefs.

• Poor Economics, by Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo

  Through their work, Banerjee and Duflo look at some of the most surprising facets of poverty: why the poor need to borrow in order to save, why they miss out on free life-saving immunizations but pay for drugs that they do not need, why they start many businesses but do not grow any of them, and many other puzzling facts about living with less than 99 cents per day. Poor Economics argues that so much of anti-poverty policy has failed over the years because of an inadequate understanding of poverty. The battle against poverty can be won, but it will take patience, careful thinking and a willingness to learn from evidence.

• The Elusive Quest for Growth, by Bill Easterly

  Since the end of World War II, economists have tried to figure out how poor countries in the tropics could attain standards of living approaching those of countries in Europe and North America. Attempted remedies have included providing foreign aid, investing in machines, fostering education, controlling population growth, and making aid loans as well as forgiving those loans on condition of reforms. None of these solutions has delivered as promised. The problem is not the failure of economics, William Easterly argues, but the failure to apply economic principles to practical policy work.

• Living high and letting die, by Peter Unger

  Living high and letting die is an exploration of how far the argument in ‘Famine, affluence and morality’ can be taken. Through a series of contrasting thought experiments, Unger develops a version of the argument that goes further than Singer's in a number of ways, while being even harder to reject.

• World poverty and human rights, by Thomas Pogge

  World poverty and human rights examines the global injustices behind extreme poverty. Pogge shows how rich countries are not only failing to help the world's poorest people, but are actively contributing to the problem with an unjust set of global institutions. He explains how we none-the-less manage to maintain the illusion that we are doing no wrong, and offers realistic proposals towards fullfilling the demands of global justice.

• The Life You Can Save, by Peter Singer

  For the first time in history, eradicating world poverty is within our reach. Yet around the world, a billion people struggle to live each day on less than many of us pay for bottled water. In The Life You Can Save, Peter Singer uses ethical arguments, illuminating examples, and case studies of charitable giving to show that our current response to world poverty is not only insufficient but morally indefensible.

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