The World's Best Book Summaries
What is microfinance? What are a few microfinance models? Microfinance is a particularly effective tool for catalyzing long-term development and helping poor people in developing countries improve their lives and businesses. There are three microfinance models that churches can get involved in to help those in poverty. Let’s look at what microfinance is and the three models that churches can use.
What are some possible solutions to poverty? How will these tactics help your local communities? In When Helping Hurts, Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert outline three specific intervention tactics for your church to consider as you contemplate ways to help the poor in your area. These tactics are job preparation, financial education, and opportunities for wealth accumulation. Let’s discuss each of these solutions to poverty in turn.
What are offshoring and outsourcing? Are they good or bad? In The World Is Flat, Thomas L. Friedman examines the forces of globalization, where they came from, how they’re changing the world, and what the globalized future might hold. He discusses new forms of collaboration that accelerate globalization. Those developments include outsourcing and offshoring. Read more to understand how offshoring and outsourcing in the United States contribute to globalization and for a brief discussion on the pros and cons of outsourcing in particular.
What is poverty in the United States like? How can we solve the poverty issue in the U.S.? Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert, the authors of When Helping Hurts, point out that churches are often best equipped to help the poor in their own communities. While missions to alleviate poverty in developing nations may get more press, there are still poor communities in America. Let’s look at a clear picture of what poverty looks like in the contemporary United States.
What are the different types of aid? Are you providing the right type of relief aid? According to Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert in their book When Helping Hurts, there are three types of aid: relief, rehabilitation, and development. It’s important to choose what type of aid you need to provide before starting a poverty-alleviation project. Below, we’ll look at the authors’ three types of aid plus how other organizations categorize aid.
How can we reduce poverty? What is the right way to approach poverty alleviation? In When Helping Hurts, Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert discuss how to practically approach poverty alleviation. This includes some common problems they’ve observed with current approaches and how to design more effective interventions. Continue reading to learn how we can reduce poverty the right way.
Does the infrastructure in America allow us to compete in the world? What, if anything, needs to change? Thomas L. Friedman argues that developing the infrastructure to connect and innovate in a globalized world is vital for America. He identifies two key areas in which the U.S. needs to build and maintain a strong infrastructure: internet technology and services, and scientific research and development. Read more to learn Friedman’s argument.
Should we fight job outsourcing or automation? What tax policies support growth? When does the protection of intellectual property cross the line into over-protection? To thrive amid globalization, the U.S. must find the right balance between global free trade and government regulation. Thomas L. Friedman looks at three issues that illustrate the importance of finding this balance: the outsourcing and automation of jobs, tax policies, and intellectual property laws. Keep reading to learn Friedman’s ideas for balancing global free trade and government regulation.
Are international supply chains good or bad? What risks are involved? Who benefits? In the 21st Century, free markets reign supreme, global trade is the centerpiece of economies, and people have access to more information and are more connected than ever before. A few collaborative business practices—including international supply chains—accelerated globalization. Keep reading to understand the globalization of supply chains, as explained by Thomas L. Friedman in his book The World Is Flat, and see why they’re a mixed bag.
How can we better understand poverty? What is the mindset you should adopt to reduce poverty? Many people misunderstand the nature of poverty, thinking it’s just a lack of resources when it’s actually a psychological issue. In When Helping Hurts, Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert observe that this misunderstanding is compounded by a belief that we’re better than the people we’re trying to help. Check out Corbett and Fikkert’s general advice on developing the right mindset to understand poverty.