Growing up amid a mess of corruption and failing social services taught Dambisa Moyo something few others were saying about her native Zambia: Western government aid has only made things worse. The Harvard- and Oxford-educated economist who describes her age as “older than my country’s 37-year-old life expectancy,” explains her ideas and offers controversial solutions in her recent book, “Dead Aid: Why Aid Is Not Working and How There Is a Better Way for Africa.” She spoke with us this week about the ethos that sustains her uncommon optimism for the continent.

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