Socioeconomics
The poor are just like everyone else
IPN Opinion article
Franklin Cudjoe responds in the Financial Times to Christian Aid's claim that development in Africa can only be achieved by the redistribution of wealth.
Aid and debt relief won't help Africa
IPN Opinion article
Sending billions in aid to Africa is like pouring water "into leaky bowls," says the head of an African pro-market think-tank.
"It is laughable to assume that just writing off poor country debts will stop the inefficiency and corruption," said Franklin Cudjoe, head of Ghana-based Imani, who argues that aid bolsters corrupt governments. Forgiving debts just frees up more money for inefficient pet projects aimed at political popularity, he maintains.
Lesson for UN from the slums
IPN Opinion article
SOME of the poorest parents in the world are paying for their children's education rather than accepting bad, but free, state schooling. Parents strive to educate their children ó and the poor are no exception. But, like many parents in rich countries, African, Indian and Chinese parents have discovered that free education often means failed education. Evidence suggests private education is both cheaper and better, even for the poorest of the poor.
Rethink Aid Strategy to Poor Countries
IPN Opinion article
Government to government aid has damaged existing institutions of productivity making poor countries poorer. Aid encourages governments to seek foreign assistance through beggary, extortion or threats, instead of creating needed change at home. Bauer observed, 'Unlike manna from heaven which descends o≠n the whole population, these subsidies go to the government'.4 Government to government aid facilitates statism, which is hostile to the needs of the individual. It normally supports government directed projects and feeds a system of corruption. In other words aid has tended to erode the proper role of governments in poor societies, hence scuttling o≠ngoing development and scuttling any reforms that may be already underway.
This month's world summit on sustainable development may perpetuate poverty and harm the environment
IPN Opinion article
The Miracle of Poverty
IPN Opinion article
Development is by its very nature sustainable, providing the human, financial and technological resources to render it so. The best thing we can do for future generations is generate maximum wealth, empowering them to live better lives. If anything is unsustainable it is the alternatives to development: stagnation and regression.
Peter Bauer: Third World Hero?
IPN Opinion article
Described as a lone voice in the wilderness, Lord Bauer wrote books which challenged the myth that poverty is self-perpetuating, and he also demonstrated that third world countries are not immune to wealth accumulation. Writing on one of the popularly notions on the cycle of poverty, Bauer noted "Throughout history innumerable individuals, families, groups, societies, and countries - both in West and the Third World - have moved from poverty to prosperity without external donations. All developed countries began as underdeveloped. If the notion of the vicious circle were valid, mankind would still be in the Stone Age at best".
