Archive for the ‘poverty’ tag
Borderline Logic
Here is an interesting perspective from a Nigerian who thinks foreign aid is actively hurting poverty-stricken African nations. Thompson Ayodele is a Research Fellow at The Independent Institute and the Executive Director, Initiative for Public Policy Analysis, Nigeria.
Quoting from London Telegraph columnist Daniel Hannan:
Foreign aid, he suggests, isn’t useless; it’s actively harmful. It discourages enterprise, fosters dependency and bolsters corrupt regimes. A similar correlation exists between debt remission and insolvency: countries which have their bills periodically written off become re-indebted more quickly than countries which don’t.
Thompson Ayodele is describing a fundamental understanding of human nature. He sees the end result of aggregate behavior that is mirrored at every level. If you see it among nations, you also will observe it in states. In states, you can find parallels in cities. Within cities, there are neighborhoods. And individual households.
Poverty cannot be eliminated by giving people money. The solution isn’t transference of wealth, but instead its creation.
I look forward to seeing more of his reasoning and the data backing his assertion.
