Columbia’s Jeffrey Sachs knows that Africa’s economic woes have nothing to do with poorly defined property rights institutions. They have everything to do with not enough wealth transfers from rich countries to the poor.
What Africa needs, then, is not more scolding from the West. It needs a ”big push” — a flood of foreign aid — to boost its prospects and carry it into the developed world.
Amazingly, this constitutes original thinking (I call it “Cheap Sachs”), even though it ignores the disastrous effects of foreign aid programs over the last several decades. More from last Sunday’s NYT Magazine.
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Quote from Sachs:
“The idea that African failure is due to African poor governance is one of the great myths of our time.”
Quote from the article:
“Although Ethiopia’s communist rulers were overthrown more than a decade ago, private land ownership is still forbidden, destroying farmers’ incentives to improve the soil.”
Hmmmm….is there something wrong with this picture? This is why I find most thinking on the subject of development profoundly depressing.
I agree with the idea that one of the biggest ways we can help Africa improve economically is through education. When the people are educated their eyes are opened to new ways of living, new ways to improve their own condition. But how can we as foreigners help this educational movement? One simple way is to sponsor a Basic Utility Vehicle with some type of mission. These vehicles are made by a great ministry as part of the Institute for Affordable Transportation. With one of these low cost (about $6,000), low maintenance, a community can afford to transport its children or young adults to a school that is located further away. Instead of being deprived of an education simply because of distance, we can help bring kids to the classroom- having many ripple effects for the continent of Africa. To learn more about the Basic Utility Vehicle, visit their website at drivebuv.org. Thanks!
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