This month we take a look at books, bust myths around development aid in Africa, analyse how small companies break into the big time and provide economic insight into the financial crisis.

Dead Aid by Dambisa Moyo 

Over the past 60 years more than $1 trillion in aid has flowed into Africa – yet over the past 30 years, the most aid-dependent countries in Africa have experienced economic contraction averaging 0,2% a year. Dambisa Moyo, a native of Zambia, contends that development aid (as differentiated from humanitarian aid) crowds out financial and social capital, stifles investment, feeds corruption and leads to higher levels of poverty - all of which, in turn, creates a demand for more aid. Having formerly worked for Goldman Sachs and the World Bank, she provides an analysis of the history of economic development in Africa over the past 50 years to back up her arguments. Dead Aid is an interesting and provocative look at the foreign aid industry and its effects on Africa.

Breakthrough Company by Keith R. Mc Farland 

The vast majority of small businesses stay small - and not by choice. This book pinpoints how everyday companies can use a clearly identifiable set of strategies and skills to help business owners go from start-up to industry leader. Using research to determine what smaller companies do to improve growth and profitability, Breakthrough Company focuses on what changes can be made to a company’s leadership style and culture to become bigger and better. For the busy entrepreneur, each chapter is summarised in detail at the end for easy reading. Breakthrough Company also  provides interesting case studies of some of the top performers.

The Return of Depression Economics by Paul R. Krugman

Written by the winner of the 2008 Nobel Prize in economics, The Return of Depression Economics shows how the failure of regulation to keep pace with an increasingly out-of-control financial system in the US, and the world as a whole, set up the greatest financial crisis since the 1930s.  Krugman’s clear, informal writing style and use of analogies to past crises helps to provide simple insight into the macroeconomic factors surrounding the crisis. The book is a reissue of Krugman’s 1999 book which he wrote following a decade of economic crises. Krugman also analyses the various currency crises of the nineties: from Britain and Sweden in the early part of the decade, to Mexico and Argentina in the mid-90s, and finally to Brazil and East Asia towards the end. This slim book covers a lot of material and provides a concise primer on the recent crisis.