My decision to read the book was questionable at best. Its journalistic prose flows easily and doesn't induce the sleep I was seeking. Also, I am not quite sure I want to fall asleep thinking about the forced prostitution in Cambodia and India.
Anyway, the book provides an interesting perspective on the efficacy of aid work, which I found a refreshing respite from the economic analyses of Easterly and other development economists. In describing a Seattle private school community service project to help construct a school in Cambodia, the authors write:
In February 2003, the school construction was complete, and Grijalva led a delegation of nineteen students from Overlake School to Cambodia for the opening. A cynic might say that the money for the visit would have been better spent building another Cambodian school, but in fact that visit was an essential field trip and learning opportunity for those American students.
From personal experience, advising high school community service projects in Ecuador, the inspiration and broadening-of-perspective dividend to be had in helping others is non-negligible for sure. But few economic analyses of aid work take this factor into account.
Call me a romantic, but I'd like to not undervalue inspiration and goodwill.
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