Dambisa Felicia Moyo2 February 1969) is a Zambian-born economist who analyzes the macroeconomy,
foreign aid impact, and global affairs. She is the author of Dead Aid: Why Aid is Not
Working and How There is a Better Way For Africa, How the West Was Lost: Fifty Years
of Economic Folly – And the Stark Choices that Lie Ahead and Winner Take All: China's
Race for Resources and What It Means for the World.
Biography Childhood
Moyo was born in 1969 and raised in Lusaka, Zambia. She was not issued a birth certificate
due to Zambian law at the time of her birth. She used this as an illustration of development
in a lecture in 2013, saying that "In 40 years I've gone from not being recognized as a human
being, to standing in front of the illustrious TED crowd today to talk to you about my views."
Adulthood Moyo holds a Doctorate in Economics from St
Antony's College, Oxford University; her 2002 dissertation is titled "Essays on the determinants
of the components of savings in developing countries". In 1997, she earned a Master of
Public Administration from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. She also earned
a Master of Business Administration in Finance and Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from
American University in Washington D.C. Moyo worked for the World Bank as a Consultant
and at Goldman Sachs where she worked in the debt capital markets and as an economist in
the global macroeconomics team. Awards and memberships
In 2013, Moyo was awarded the Hayek Lifetime Achievement Award, named for the Nobel Prize
winner and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Friedrich Hayek. Moyo was also
a participant at the Bilderberg Conference and was named by TIME Magazine as one of the
world's 100 most influential people. In 2009 Moyo was also honoured by the World
Economic Forum as one of its Young Global Leaders. In September 2009 Moyo was featured
in Oprah Winfrey's power list of 20 remarkable visionaries. The Daily Beast selected Moyo
as one of "150 Extraordinary Women Who Shake The World".
Moyo serves on the board of Barclays Bank, SABMiller, and Barrick Gold. She has done
numerous speaking engagements at organizations including: OECD, World Bank, International
Monetary Fund, Council on Foreign Relations, American Enterprise Institute and the 2009
Munk Debates as well as most of the G7 countries, and has travelled to nearly 60 countries over
the last decade. She is a speaker at the 2013 TEDGlobal conference and spoke at TEDxBrussels
in 2009 and 2010. Moyo is a regular contributor to financial
journals such as the Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal. She is a contributing
editor to CNBC and has appeared as a guest on other networks such as CNN, Bloomberg,
BBC and Fox Business. She was a Patron of Absolute Return for Kids, a hedge fund-supported
children’s charity. Bibliography
Winner Take All Moyo's third book Winner Take All: China's
Race for Resources and What It Means for the World was published in June 2012. The book
examines the commodity dynamics that the world will face over the next several decades. In
particular, the implications of China's rush for resources across all regions of the world.
With the scale of China’s resource campaign for hard commodities and soft commodities
being one of the largest in history, Moyo presents her research of the financial and
geopolitical implications of this in a world of diminishing resources and argues that we
are in the middle of unprecedented times. Winner Take All became a New York Times best-seller
debuting at #13 as well as entering The Wall Street Journal's business best sellers at
#4 and the Publishers Weekly best-seller list at #11.
A review in The Financial Times states that "If Dambisa Moyo is right, the demands of
the world’s most populous state are bad news for the rest of us...One cannot accuse
Moyo of failing to do her homework. So much has been packed into it that her book is impossible
to read without learning something." Kirkus Reviews states "Written to clarify important
global questions, this book deserves a wide audience." The Telegraph commented "Perhaps
she is right, but the grounds for doubting whether the future will be a straight line
from the past deserve a hearing.". How The West Was Lost
Moyo’s second book, entitled How the West Was Lost: Fifty Years of Economic Folly – And
the Stark Choices that Lie Ahead, offers an account of the decline of the economic supremacy
of the West over the past 50 years. In particular, Moyo examines how America’s flawed decisions
and blinkered policies choices around Capital, Labour and Technology – key ingredients
for economic growth and success – have resulted in an economic and geo-political seesaw that
is now poised to tip in favour of the emerging world.
It became a New York Times bestseller, debuting at #6 in its first week. It also debuted at
#4 in the Washington Post and #2 in the Wall Street Journal. The book also had success
in Canada, peaking at #4 and remaining on the bestseller list for 6 weeks.
In a review, Paul Collier states that "her diagnosis of the recent disasters in financial
markets is succinct and sophisticated" and continues "I applaud her brave alarum against
our economic and social complacency: her core concerns are sufficiently close to painful
truths to warrant our attention." Dominic Lawson writes in The Times "This argument...can
rarely have been made more concisely...Moyo is a very serious lady indeed." The Independent
says "the sad saga of the recession gives legs to Dambisa Moyo’s provocatively-entitled
book, for it goes to the heart of the great economic issue of our times: how swiftly will
power shift over this century?". The Guardian says "How the West Was Lost is more interesting,
wider in scale and more important than Dead Aid".
Bloomberg summarizes "[The book] offers up a well-reasoned look at how the world’s
most-advanced nations are squandering their economic lead — and how they might survive
by fighting Chinese fire with fire….The book offers Western politicians a prescription
for stopping the rot." Bloomberg named it one of their top business books of 2011.
In contrast, Alan Beattie of the Financial Times says "The challenges it identifies are
for the most part real, if not original. But the huge flaws of the emerging economies are
ignored." The Economist says "these arguments need much better supporting material than
the book provides". Ireland's Sunday Business Post says "Moyo’s
analysis of the fundamental underpinnings of the credit crunch, especially the role
of leveraging, is ... nuanced and insightful". Dead Aid
Dead Aid: Why Aid Is Not Working and How There is Another Way for Africa argues that foreign
aid has harmed Africa and that it should be phased out. It became a New York Times bestseller.
It is published in Chinese, English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Korean,
Polish, Portuguese and Dutch. The book offers proposals for developing countries
to finance development, instead of relying on foreign aid. Moyo has stated that her arguments
are based on those made by pro-market economists like Peter Bauer and, later, William Easterly.
The Financial Times summarized the book's argument: "Limitless development assistance
to African governments, she argues, has fostered dependency, encouraged corruption and ultimately
perpetuated poor governance and poverty." She argues that foreign aid helps perpetuate
the cycle of poverty and hinders economic growth in Africa.
Harvard professor and historian Niall Ferguson wrote the foreword to Dead Aid. Quotes by
the Chairman and CEO of Forbes, Steve Forbes, appear on the book jacket as well as by former
United Nations Secretary-General Mr. Kofi Annan who says "Dambisa Moyo makes a compelling
case for a new approach to Africa". Moyo's ideas are similar to those held by
the Rwandan Government and President Paul Kagame. He says that "Dead Aid has given us
an accurate evaluation of the aid culture today". Kagame also invited Moyo to Rwanda
to discuss her thesis and bought copies of the book for his entire cabinet. The former
President of Senegal, Abdoulaye Wade has also expressed similar views on aid.
The thesis has also been noted by the Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao. Speaking at a China-Africa
Cooperation summit in Egypt, he said "I have read a book titled Dead Aid written by Dambisa
Moyo. The author talks about her personal experiences and draws the conclusion that
China's assistance to Africa is sincere, credible, practical and efficient and is welcomed by
the African people. I am confident that time will prove that friendship and cooperation
between the Chinese and African people has a bright future."
In a book review, economist Paul Collier states that "Aid is not a very potent instrument
for enhancing either security or accountability. Our obsession with it has detracted from the
more important ways in which we can promote development: peacekeeping, security guarantees,
trade privileges, and governance." The pro-aid organization ONE disagreed with
the book, stating that it calls to "cut-off all aid". Moyo points out in a number of interviews
that this is a misrepresentation of her ideas and the Financial Times notes that ONE's campaign
"at least partially backfired". The economist Jeffrey Sachs has said more foreign aid is
needed to improve conditions for Africa but Moyo points out that when Sachs was her lecturer
at Harvard it was he himself who taught that "the path to long-term development would only
be achieved through private sector involvement and free market solutions". The Financial
Times suggests that the book "ignores evidence of development assistance working" but notes
that "she has energised many fellow Africans to join in the debate".
In a 2013 interview Bill Gates was asked for his views on Dead Aid's illustration that
aid "keeps the economy crippled....[with] the money not being used to make businesses
sustainable in Africa". He claimed to have read the book and stated "books like that
- they're promoting evil". Responding on her website, Moyo stated "To cast aside the arguments
I raised in Dead Aid at a time when we have witnessed the transformative economic success
of countries like China, Brazil and India, belittles my experiences, and those of hundreds
of millions of Africans, and others around the world who suffer the consequences of the
aid system every day." Publications
Moyo, Dambisa. Winner Take All: China's Race for Resources and What It Means for the World.
New York: Basic Books. ISBN 0-465-02828-4. Moyo, Dambisa. How the West Was Lost: Fifty
Years of Economic Folly – And the Stark Choices that Lie Ahead. New York: Farrar,
Straus and Giroux. ISBN 0-374-17325-7. Moyo, Dambisa. Dead Aid: Why Aid Is Not Working
and How There is Another Way for Africa. New York: Farrar, Straus
and Giroux. ISBN 0-374-13956-3. Project Syndicate : "Commodities on the Rise"
Financial Times : "Hunt for alpha leads to Africa"
Quartz : "Forget the BRICs; Zambia, Estonia and Pakistan are the place for alpha investors"
Guernica Magazine : "Closing the China Gap" The New York Times : "Beijing, a Boon for
Africa" Época Magazine : "The China's voracity is
the better for Africa" New Statesman : "Does aid work?"
Prospect : "If I ruled the world" TIME : "The Resource Shortage Is Real"
Financial Times : "Capitalism for Africa" Change This Manifesto : "A Call Against Complacency"
The New York Times : "How to Get America Back on Track"
The Times : "The country faces a dramatic choice: sink or swim"
Barron's : "Holding Housing's Head Above Water"
Aberdeen Asset Management : "America's Hobson's Choice"
Financial Times: "The Diary: Dambisa Moyo" The Economist: "The lure of Africa: Bond markets
will discover its attractions" Financial Times: "Little appetite to question
the aid-based status quo" Foreign Policy: "The Next Big Thing: Africa"
Wall Street Journal: "Why Foreign Aid Is Hurting Africa"
Financial Times: "The Diary: Dambisa Moyo" The Guardian: "Capitalism for Africa"
References
External links dambisamoyo.com, Moyo's official website
Facebook Fan page, Moyo's official Facebook fan page
Jake Whitney in Guernica Magazine interviews Moyo
Allan Stevo at LewRockwell.com reviews Moyo's Dead Aid.
"Africa with Dambisa Moyo" link to Uncommon Knowledge interview filmed 12 June 2009
Dambisa Moyo on Twitter Dambisa Moyo Interview May 2010
C-SPAN Q&A interview with Moyo, April 5, 2009 Dambisa Moyo: Is China the new idol for emerging
economies?, TED talks