Center on Global Prosperity

Nearly two hundred years after the Industrial Revolution, fifty years after the Green Revolution, and a decade and a half after the collapse of the Iron Curtain, it is a tragic fact that half of the world’s population is living in abject poverty and misery.

Approximately 10 percent of the present world population (roughly 600 million people) is estimated to live on or below an equivalent economic level of $1 per day, and approximately half of the world population (3 billion people) live on or below an equivalent economic level of $2 per day.

Yet almost universally, from failed domestic policies in countries around the world to dysfunctional national and international institutions, the typical proposals to reduce poverty continue to frame the problem as one of a lack of physical resources, unjust terms of trade, and unfair capital flows. Characteristic of this mindset are calls for increased government-to-government financial aid, which tends to suppress the development of a strong and secure entrepreneurial sector capable of hastening private economic development in the recipient country.

There are many practical examples of market-based solutions that have worked to end poverty. There is no dearth of talent, intelligence, and enterprise that can’t be harnessed to liberate the bulk of the world’s population from the desperation in which they now lead their lives. Instead, the challenge in the Information Age is to bring together the scholarly research on innovative solutions to ending poverty—research that is based on the entrepreneurial spirit shown by millions of destitute people around the world in their everyday lives and on the success stories of countries that have made recent progress toward economic and social development. We believe that showcasing and disseminating these solutions in an attractive and effective manner will help create an environment in which these innovations can take root and thrive.

The solutions to worldwide poverty lie in institutional changes—changes that occur only as the result of a shift in popular and intellectual perceptions. In order to foster these changes, The Independent Institute has created the Center on Global Prosperity to bring together the intellectual, moral, and practical analyses necessary to shed light on the viability of market-based solutions. The results of these studies are utilized to produce books, conferences, and major media programs for academic, political, business, religious, and civic leaders, as well as the general public.

Center on Global Prosperity Books

Center on Global Prosperity People

Personnel

Director
Gabriel Gasave
Research Fellow and Director, Center on Global Prosperity, Independent Institute
Alvaro Vargas Llosa
Senior Fellow, Independent Institute

Senior Fellows

Research Fellows

Executive Director, Initiative for Public Policy Analysis, Nigeria
Scott A. Beaulier
BB&T Distinguished Professor of Economics, Mercer University
Peter J. Boettke
University Professor of Economics, George Mason University
Joshua C. Hall
Assistant Professor of Economics, Beloit College
Robert A. Lawson
Associate Professor of Finance, Auburn University; Co-Director of the Center for International Finance and Global Competitiveness and Director, Economic Freedom Initiative
Peter T. Leeson
BB&T Professor for the Study of Capitalism, George Mason University
Visiting Professor of Economics, Francisco Marroquín Foundation, Guatemala

Advisors

Alberto Benegas Lynch, Jr

Professor of Economics, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina

Jagdish N. Bhagwati

University Professor, Columbia University; Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations

Gerardo Bongiovanni

Director, Fundacion Libertad, Argentina

Dora Rodriguez de Ampuero

Executive Director, Instituto Ecuatoriano de Economia Politica, Ecuador

Roger Fontaine

former Director, Latin American Affairs, National Security Council
President, Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Legales, Peru
Steve H. Hanke
Professor of Applied Economics, Johns Hopkins University

Martin Krause

Dean, ESEADE Graduate School, Argentina
Professor of Economics and Political Science, Duke University

Colin M. MacLachlan

Professor of History, Tulane University
Phillip W. Magness
Senior Research Fellow, American Institute for Economic Research

William Mangin

Professor of Anthropology Emeritus, Syracuse University
Yuri N. Maltsev
Professor of Economics, A.W. Clausen Center for World Business, Carthage College

Robert Packenham

Professor of Political Science Emeritus, Stanford University
Professor of Economics, Université Paris-Dauphine, France

Roberto M. Salinas-Léon

Director of Policy Analysis, TV Azteca, S.A. de C.V., Mexico

Pablo T. Spiller

effrey A. Jacobs Distinguished Professor of Business and Technology, Professor of Business & Public Policy, University of California, Berkeley

Alejandro A. Tagliavini

Author and Researcher, Argentina

Adjunct Fellows

In Memoriam

George B. N. Ayittey
Distinguished Economist in Residence, Department of Economics, American University
Carlos Alberto Montaner
President, Firmas Press, Spain

Center on Global Prosperity Contact

Center on Global Prosperity
The Independent Institute
100 Swan Way, Oakland, CA 94621-1428
510-632-1366 Phone
510-568-6040 Fax

Research Rellow and Director of elindependent.org
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Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, the Independent Institute
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About the Independent Institute Centers

Each center is tasked with assessing, refining, and proposing innovative solutions to pressing social and economic challenges. Our programs focus on three core components: rigorous scholarly research, insightful publications, and the strategic dissemination of findings to opinion leaders and the public through conferences and media initiatives.

By fostering evidence-based solutions, our centers encourage informed discussions that can be scrutinized not just by experts, but also by media influencers, business leaders, religious organizations, engaged citizens, and policymakers. Our goal is to promote rational, objective dialogue that sheds light on key issues and shifts public discourse away from interest-group politics.