Arnold,
........MORE MUTUAL AID...and with a bias towards renewable energy and other environmentally responsible technologies towards building more long term sustainable economies
Can't say I'd go along with that one. The Asian countries that have been receiving aid are years away from becoming significant engines of demand; the countries that have been generating demand - and could do so again - are well beyond the stage where aid will make much difference. For these - Japan, Korea, Taiwan, HK, Malaysia come to mind - solutions will have to be generated internally; I do not see a great deal that can be done from the outside. Political change will in many cases be a prerequisite for economic change.
Even in the countries that have been left behind, I do not think much of the current aid programs, which have achieved little beyond the care and feeding of a select group of consultants. Large aid programs tend to go into large projects, and as the projects expand, the percentage of the money that actually gets to project shrinks rapidly. Personally, I'd like to see a lot more aid money directed to a serious effort to make sure that intelligent and motivated young people from the poorer classes in poor countries get the best possible education, up to and including full scholarships to American universities. I think that over the long term this would have far more impact than pouring tens of millions of dollars into show projects that often crumble shortly after their well-publicized inaugurations. Better to teach people to fish... |
