'The White Man's Burden,' by William Easterly - The New York Times Book Review - New York Times

'The White Man's Burden,' by William Easterly - The New York Times Book Review - New York Times: "He contrasts the traditional 'Planner' approach of most aid projects with the 'Searcher' approach that works so well in the markets and democracies of the West. Searchers treat problem-solving as an incremental discovery process, relying on competition and feedback to figure out what works.

'A Planner thinks he already knows the answers,' Easterly writes. 'A Searcher admits he doesn't know the answers in advance; he believes that poverty is a complicated tangle of political, social, historical, institutional and technological factors.' Planners trust outside experts. Searchers emphasize homegrown solutions."