Video and Audio Lectures in Development Economics

Meghnad Desai, one of the world’s leading development economists, is a Professor Emeritus at the London School of Economics and a member of the House of Lords. Here he speaks at the Centre for East Asian Studies (CEAS), University of Bristol. This audio file starts with a welcome from Professor Yongjin Zhang (Director of CEAS) and is followed by an introduction by Professor David Clarke (Deputy Vice Chancellor, Bristol University) who introduces Lord Meghnad Desai. Lord Desai discusses the role of China in the previous economic boom, the current downturn, and the role China will need to play in future global financial architecture. A summary of the talk is available as a Word document, along with an mp3 audio file of the event.

This video from TED.com features a 19 minute presentation by Paul Collier about The Bottom Billion. Around the world right now, one billion people are trapped in poor or failing countries. How can we help them? Economist Paul Collier lays out a bold, compassionate plan for closing the gap between rich and poor. Paul Collier’s book The Bottom Billion shows what is happening to the poorest people in the world, and offers ideas for opening up opportunities to all. Users can download the audio or video to their desktop or watch it online.

This one-and-a-half hour video dates from October 2010 and is a lecture discussing the role of government and institutions in growth, using the example of the BRIC countries.

A ten-minute introduction to the basic concepts of development economics, featuring contributions from academics at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Sachs is director of Columbia University's Earth Institute and was a special advisor to the UN Secretary General. This section of the Earth Institute home page collects audio, video and transcripts of his media appearances and talks on the topic of international development. The videos vary in length and are usually available in multiple formats.

This group has been formed by Boston Universitys Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future and Latin American Studies Program, to study Latin American economics and development.  A meeting was held in November 2010 and there are a number of interesting video clips from this event which featured a public symposium.  Presenters include Prof Scott Palmer, Dr Ramon Espinasa and Prof Adil Najam.  This could provide some topical teaching materials and different viewpoints on development economics. There are also some free online publications available.

One billion people on the planet are struggling with extreme poverty according to Jeffrey D. Sachs, director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University. In this video lecture, Sachs discusses his new book, The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time, which explores the challenge of global poverty. Sachs also shares accounts of his recent visits to Africa and offers practical solutions to the challenge of global poverty, which he contends can be eliminated by 2025. The video requires the RealPlayer software.