UNC News Services

Oxford University economist Paul Collier, who wrote The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries Are Failing and What Can Be Done About It, will give a free public talk at 7 p.m. Jan. 10 at UNC.

The speech in UNC’s FedEx Global Education Center will be drawn in part from Collier’s research on the economies of 48 poor countries, 70 percent of them in Africa. He found that poverty there is due to factors involving conflict, natural resources, being landlocked with neighbors in turmoil and/or problematic governments.

Collier’s proposed solutions include military intervention, new laws and charters for better governance and trade preferences.

The New York Times named The Bottom Billion one of the best economics books of 2007, saying it “offered a clearheaded argument for reducing global poverty.”

Collier directs the Center for the Study of African Economics at Oxford. Previously, he directed development research at the World Bank and was an adviser to former English Prime Minister Tony Blair’s Commission on Africa.

The FedEx Global Education Center, at the corner of McCauley and Pittsboro streets, offers parking in a deck under the building. Collier’s speech, cosponsored by UNC’s African studies center, is part of the Global Education Distinguished Speaker Series at UNC. The series brings in experts who encourage education, thought and discussion of global issues. For more information, visit www.global.und.edu or call 962-2435.