“Politicians would only move beyond gestures once there was a critical mass of informed citizens.”

“Without an informed electorate, politicians will continue to use the bottom billion merely for photo opportunities, rather than promoting real transformation.”

“Electorates tend to get the politicians they deserve.”

“You are a citizen, and citizenship carries responsibilities.”

“The critical changes in trade policy... are politically difficult not because they threaten interests (they don't) but because they do not fit into any of the current slogans and so don't make it onto the agenda.”

“Poverty is not intrinsically a trap, otherwise we would all still be poor.”

“And so a miserable but possible scenario is that countries in the bottom billion oscillate between the traps and limbo, perhaps switching in the process from one trap to another..Let me be clear: we cannot rescue them. The societies of the bottom billion can only be rescued from within. In every society of the bottom billion there are people working for change, but usually they are defeated by the powerful internal forces stacked against them. We should be helping the heroes. So far, our efforts have been paltry: through inertia, ignorance, and incompetence, we have stood by and watched them lose.Let me be clear: we cannot rescue them. These societies of the bottom billion can only be rescued from within.”