The disparity between rich and poor countries is the most serious, intractable problem facing the world today. The chronic poverty of many nations affects more than the citizens and economies of those nations; it threatens global stability as the pressures of immigration become unsustainable and rogue nations seek power and influence through extreme political and terrorist acts. For decades, a vast array of international institutions has pumped billions of dollars into these nations in an attempt to remedy their ills through the development of their technological infrastructures, educational systems, and health care programs. Yet despite this infusion of capital and attention, roughly five billion of the world's six billion people continue to live in poor countries. What isn't working? And how can we fix it? The Power of Productivity provides powerful and controversial answers to these questions. William Lewis, the director emeritus of the McKinsey Global Institute, here draws on extensive microeconomic studies of thirteen nations over twelve years--conducted by the Institute itself-- to counter virtually all prevailing wisdom about how best to ameliorate economic disparity. Contrary to popular belief, providing more capital to poor nations is not the primary way to help them out of the poverty trap. Neither is improving levels of education, exchange rate flexibility, or government solvency. Rather, the key to reducing economic inequalities between rich and poor countries, argues Lewis, is productivity and its links to competition and consumption. As The Power of Productivity explains, this sweeping solution affects the economies of poor nations at all levels--from the viability of major industries to how the average consumer thinks about his or her purchases. Poor countries, Lewis shows, are locked into a self- perpetuating cycle driven by profitable yet unproductive firms, government policies that protect these firms from competition, and consumers with no concept