Toxic Aid Economic Collapse and Recovery in Tanzania

For many years Tanzania was the darling of international aid agencies. During the 1970s it received more assistance per capita than any other nation in the world. And yet, the economy performed dismally: growth was negative, exports collapsed, and poverty increased massively. In the mid 1980s, however, the international community changed tacks and developed an approach based on conditionality and 'program ownership'. Since 1996 the country has grown steadily, and social conditions have improved significantly. This book provides an economic history of Tanzania, since independence in 1961. It covers the policies of African Socialism and the Arusha Declaration, the collapse of the early 1980s, the rocky relationships with the IMF, and the reforms of the 1990s and 2000s.

Sebastian Edwards, Henry Ford II Professor of Economics, Anderson Graduate School of Management, University of California, Los Angeles

Sebastian Edwards is the Henry Ford II Professor of International Economics at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is the Co-Director of the National Bureau of Economic Research's 'Africa Project.' From 1993 to 1996 he was Chief Economist for Latin America at the World Bank. He has published 14 books, including two best-selling novels, and over 200 scholarly articles. He has been an advisor to numerous governments, financial institutions, and multinational companies. He is a frequent commentator on economic matters on CNN and other cable outlets, and his op-ed pieces have been published by the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, the Los Angeles Times, El Pais (Spain), La Vanguardia (Spain), and other newspapers from around the world. His latest book is Left Behind: Latin America and the False Promise of Populism (University of Chicago press, 2011). Professor Edwards received an MA in economics in 1978, and a PhD in economics in 1981, both from the University of Chicago.