International Aid Critic Dambisa Moyo to Speak at Holy Cross

WORCESTER, Mass. – International economist and best-selling author Dambisa Moyo will speak on Monday, Feb.14 at 4 p.m. in the Seelos Theater at the College of the Holy Cross.  Her lecture will be based on her controversial book, Dead Aid: Why Aid is Not Working and How There is a Better Way for Africa.  The talk is free and open to the public.  Seating may be limited.

A macroeconomist from Zambia, Moyo is an outspoken critic of international development aid that is given to Africa.  Her writings on related issues regularly appear in publications like The Financial Times, the Economist Magazine, and The Wall Street Journal.  Her latest book, How the West was Lost: Fifty Years of Economic Folly and Stark Choices Ahead, was released in Europe last month, and will be available in the U.S. on Feb. 15.

After the publication of Dead Aid in 2009, Moyo was named by Time Magazine as one of the “100 Most Influential People in the World,” and by Oprah Winfrey’s O Magazine as “one of the most powerful women of this generation.”  She has worked as a consultant for the World Bank, and as an economist on the global macroeconomics team at Goldman Sachs.

Moyo received a Ph.D. in economics from Oxford University and a masters’ degree from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.  She also holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and an M.B.A. in finance from American University.

While at Holy Cross, Moyo will also hold a seminar for students in the Global Society cluster of Montserrat, the College’s living-learning program for first-year students.  Her visit to campus is sponsored by Montserrat's Global Society cluster, the Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture, and Africana Studies.