Macabre Explanation of Opportunity Costs

[tcpip]

For those who haven't seen it...

I think dead children should be used as a unit of currency. I know this sounds controversial, but hear me out.

Comments

[kenosis]

Dambisa Moyo had African foreign aid pegged at around a trillion dollars so far. $1T/$800 = 1 and a quarter billion people. That's some impressive lifesaving considering that Africa has less people than that.

[ninboydean]

Meanwhile, nearly 2 Tn US$ have left Africa by way of fraud since the 80s...

[kenosis]

If the problem is institutional - either going in or coming out - how is giving more money going to fix it?

[tcpip]

At the very least it deals with the symptoms.

[kenosis]

Which symptoms? People dying?

If we're going with fantasy solutions let's just outlaw war.

[tcpip]

Which symptoms? People dying?

Yes. As someone who has witnessed the effects of such interventions first hand I can assure that it does work, and it is far better than doing nothing.

[kenosis]

There are people that have also witnessed their effects that have been less impressed: Binyavanga Wainaina, Dambisa Moyo, Andrew Mwenda, and James Shikwati are some that immediately come to mind. The latter was involved in a really good article.

[tcpip]

Well, there's someone who has certainly has never been a foreign aid worker and has never been a direct recipient of said aid.

The main point he has missed in terms of corruption is the use of aid to promote certain political and industrial changes in a country where the state acts on behalf of industry. e.g., aid by country X to build roads which is used to transport ore to ports where both the mining company and the port and the transport authority all want a "business subsidy".

[kenosis]

Do you think foreign aid workers or recipients are more objective about their role in being societally beneficial to someone that lives in the country and is neither employed by or receives things from aid? Regardless there are former aid workers who are deeply critical, as well: Easterly comes to mind, as does Paul Theroux.

[tcpip]

Do you think foreign aid workers or recipients are more objective about their role in being societally beneficial to someone that lives in the
country and is neither employed by or receives things from aid?

In most cases, yes. Volunteer aid workers do not gain great financial benefit from the activity, and those on the receiving end hardly prefer such dependency.

Regardless there are former aid workers who are deeply critical, as well: Easterly comes to mind, as does Paul Theroux.

Anyone who has been in the industry is critical as they have seen both the problems and benefits first-hand. None however, with the exception of the callous, would suggest that attempts to deal with immediate symptoms, when lives are at stake.

[foreverbeach]

The best foreign aid is to drop thousands of crates of AK-47s and corresponding ammo and magazines where the impoverished populations can access them. Because let's face it: when people are poor en masse, it's due to government.

[tcpip]

Because let's face it: when people are poor en masse, it's due to government.

Government is universal, so you may as well say when they are rich en masse it's due to government as well.

More to the point, and certainly with the experience of the "resource curse" it is due to particular types of government and specifically the quest for monopoly profit in natural resources.

As an example, compare the relative success of Botswana with its neighbours. What does Botswana do differently? The government is democratic and the public owns the land and resources.

[kenosis]

I wonder if the lack of financial benefit leads volunteers to a sort of moral purity about the cause, though. It's a lot easier to get people to volunteer to help if they believe they are absolutely doing good as opposed to telling volunteers they may be the cause of long-term detriments.

No one wants to be dependent - certainly one view. But a lot of people want to get things without spending money for them - another view. There's an idea for opportunity cost right there.

[foreverbeach]

Except that in many cases foreign aid actually gets used as a weapon against the people it was intended to help. Or it distorts local economies (discouraging farming, for instance) and creates more havoc than it solves.

[tcpip]

Except that in many cases foreign aid actually gets used as a weapon against the people it was intended to help.

In those circumstances (e.g., the U.S.'s militaryforeign aid budget to Israel) there isn't even a pretense of who it is helping..