Book Talk: William Easterly on “Violent Saviors,” Colonialism, & Global Development
Economist William Easterly’s new book Violent Saviors: The West’s Conquer of the Rest is a sweeping history of 400 years of Western colonialism, and the associated justifications of colonial domination by claims of civilizational benefits for the conquered. He traces how these patterns of “coerced development” have survived into modern theories of development economics and the relationship of the U.S. with the Global South – as well as how an emphasis on commercial freedom could chart a new path for the relationship between the wealthiest nations and those who remain in poverty.
At a time when both policies and rhetoric around international development are being transformed by the Trump Administration, Easterly’s book and his expertise have particular relevance. Please join us for a timely discussion on how Western colonialism shaped the world we live in, what global commerce and development means for the powerful and the poor today, and much more.
The discussion will be hosted by Marcus Stanley, Director of Studies at the Quincy Institute, on Tuesday, March 10 from 12:00 – 1:00 PM Eastern Time.
Panelists
Marcus Stanley
Marcus Stanley is director of studies at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. Dr. Stanley has a PhD in public policy from the Kennedy School of Government. Prior to joining the Quincy Institute he had a background as an economist, including as an assistant professor in the Department of Economics at Case Western Reserve University, a senior economist at the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress, an economic and policy advisor to Senator Barbara Boxer, and the policy director at Americans for Financial Reform, where he played a leadership role in efforts to reform regulation of the U.S. financial system.
William Easterly
William Easterly is Professor Emeritus of Economics at New York University and Co-director Emeritus of the NYU Development Research Institute, which won the 2009 BBVA Frontiers of Knowledge in Development Cooperation Award. He is the author of four books: Violent Saviors: The West’s Conquest of the Rest (November 2025), The Tyranny of Experts: Economists, Dictators, and the Forgotten Rights of the Poor (2014), The White Man’s Burden: Why the West’s Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good (2006), which won the FA Hayek Award from the Manhattan Institute, and The Elusive Quest for Growth: Economists’ Adventures and Misadventures in the Tropics (2001).