1. Owen Barder thinks of development as a complex system property rather than a sum of individual parts to include citizens, firms, and government agencies. Embodying this perspective towards development prompts analysts to consider how to influence the acceleration of evolution and improve adaptability to changes throughout the world. This idea that development is non-linear and unpredictable with many interworking variables, is similar to Amartya Sen’s assertion that individual freedoms are interconnected, “strengthening their joint importance.”

  2. Thomas Thwaits was a British design student who tried to make a toaster from completely raw materials. He substituted convenience for primitivity, using iron ore, melted by a leaf blower in a trash can, to turn it into steel. This was so challenging in itself that he almost gave up, proving how challenging it is to build even a rather simple appliance completely from scratch without taking advantage of the specialization and the convenience that the economy has provided for society. The toaster barely worked before catching on fire. Barder uses this anecdote to support his claim that development is not an increase in output in individuals, as Thwaits’ well-being was not significantly enriched by this project.

  3. Ghana and South Korea had comparable incomes per person in 1960, until South Korea’s skyrocketed. The Solow model explains that increases in labor and capital lead to this development, but there is another unexplained variable of technical change. Ghana had negative technological growth, while South Korea had great growth in this area. However, exchange of knowledge is free, so Ghana should have reasonable access to technology at this point, os there must be another factor. Economists came up with the idea that ineffective government policies were the problem. Governments then began to implement policies based on the “Washington Consensus,” which recommended 10 reforms to improve the economic state of developing countries.

  4. The Harrod-Domar model illustrates that an increase in capital and/or labor will cause an increase in output. Developing countries do not seem to have a shortage of labor, they must need an increase in capital. Walter Rostow is an author who claimed that there is a positive feedback loop that can explain development. If investment riess, capital stock rises, sso output rises, creating higher incomes, more savings, leading to, once again, an increase in investment. His model was very popular as it allowed developing countries to quantify the amount of foreign investment they needed in order to initiate this cycle.

  5. The Solow model agrees with the Harrod-Domar model that increases in labor and capital lead to this development, but there is another unexplained variable that he calls technical change. This model has significant issues. Technological change is spurred by the spread of knowledge, which is free and cannot depreciate.

  6. The Washington Consensus suggested ten reforms that should be prioritized in government policy especially in developing countries. These reforms were suggested so that they may replace the bad government policies that many economists blamed for poor economic performance in developing countries. Some of the reforms were successful, such as the improvement in Sub-Saharan public deficits and exchange rates, however, it is largely deemed a failure.

  7. The Ajaokuta Steel Works in Nigeria is a huge American and Nigerian investment that has not produced any steel at all. Poor management and endemic corruption are to blame for the lack of economic growth inspired by this large investment. The failure of Washington Consensus caused the shift from implementing government policies to implementing institutions. This investment in Nigeria was a failure though, because society has yet to agree on what investments are important for growth in developing countries.

  8. Haile Selassie was the last emperor of the Ethiopian feudal dynasty. Kapuściński depicts the ruling of Selasssie as an effort to gain power and ensure the preservatiton of power by suppressing movements towards political and social institutions. I agree with Barder that the powerful elite, tempted by corruption, can determine the well-being of the majority due to selflessness and greed.

  9. Steve Jones is an evolutionary biologist who was hired to design a better nozzle for soap powder making. He used trial and error in a way that mimics evolution, allowing non-linear solutions to reveal themselves. He was successful and is an example of how inefficient solutions can be if society does not initially recognize the complexity of the problem.

  10. Schumpeter’s creative destruction is the idea that society has an incessant need to replace traditional methods and evolve, particularly in capitalist nations. The firms have to be able to adapt to the changing economy in order to financially succeed, rather than produce for creativity.

  11. Barder recommends resisting engineering because it is hard to contrive solutions in a complex adaptive system. He suggests that instead of replacing evolutionary processes, we should try to better understand and harness them. Isomorphic mimicry is the concept that an institution can have all of the resources and planes to create successful growth in a developing country and that is enough to inspire investment, even if they do not ultimately deliver the results they boasted about.

  12. Resist fatalism means that we should not accept this feeling that we are helpless and incapable of influencing the world around us. We can accelerate and shape evolution. Norman Borlaug inspired the Green Revolution by influencing the process of evolution in his wheat through crossbreeding. The Green Revolution is an improvement in agriculture in developing countries due to their interaction with the evolutionary processes of their crops.