Masters of Illusion

More about the book

This is the story of good intentions gone wrong--of misdirected science, environmental degradation, mathematical formulae run amok. It began in 1945 with a pledge to bring the third world into the first, with the help of a powerful world bank, designed to finance the takeoff of the poorest countries. Fifty years later the gap between the rich and the underdeveloped nations is wider than ever. This is the story of the making of a quagmire of debt and impoverishment.