Book Talk with Bill Easterly: The Quest for Dignity

After being diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, NYU Economics Professor Bill Easterly wrote a book about how recipients of Western aid asserted their right to self-determination. Along the way, Bill learned from them important lessons about his own need for dignity with Parkinson's. William Easterly is a retired professor and former advisor at the World Bank. He has written for the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Financial Times. His fourth book, Violent Saviors: the West's Conquest of the Rest, was published in November 2025.