Bill Easterly, a professor of economics at New York University, is one of the most consistently interesting and provocative thinkers on development.
His previous books, "White Man's Burden" (on the failures of aid) and "The Elusive Quest for Growth" (on fashions in development economics), asked big questions and reached wide readerships, owing partly to his direct and gently irreverent style. His newest, "The Tyranny of Experts: Economists, Dictators and the Forgotten Rights of the Poor" is even more ambitious.
Easterly takes a theme implicit in the earlier books and advances it forthrightly. He argues that the West's efforts to help the poor, or even to understand what holds them back, have been defeated by the failure to recognize them as individuals with rights.