Books The Prosperity Paradox: How Innovation Can Lift Nations Out of Poverty  by Clayton M Christensen (Author), Efosa Ojomo (Author), Karen Dillon (Author)

The Prosperity Paradox: How Innovation Can Lift Nations Out of Poverty by Clayton M. Christensen, Efosa Ojomo, and Karen Dillon challenges traditional approaches to economic development that focus on top-down aid and infrastructure investments. Instead, the authors emphasize the power of market-creating innovation—products and services that make previously inaccessible goods affordable and available to large populations—as the key to sustainable prosperity.

Key insights include:

Many poverty-alleviation efforts fail or worsen inequality because they do not create new markets or economic ecosystems.

Market-creating innovations transform nonconsumers into consumers, unlocking economic potential and fostering entrepreneurship.

Historical examples include the Singer sewing machine, Ford automobiles, and Kodak cameras, which did not just improve existing markets but created entirely new industries and demand.

This innovation-driven growth builds jobs, infrastructure, institutions, and a culture of inquiry needed for long-term development.

The framework has been successfully applied in regions like South Korea, Rwanda, Nigeria, India, and Mexico.

The book calls for a shift from aid dependency to empowering local entrepreneurs to innovate and solve local problems sustainably.