Monday, December 17, 2001

Steven Den Beste argues that in many cases pouring aid into a Third World country is the wrong thing to do: There are a lot of things which need to be present for a country to build a stable and prosperous capitalist economy capable of providing a high average standard of living for its populations, and most of them can't be purchased. You need a strong, fair, trusted court system and a well considered body of law which is applied consistently and fairly. You need judges and lawyers and honest policemen. You need a low level of corruption. You need a tax system which doesn't crush success. You need a substantial professional class of bankers, businessmen, engineers and technicians. You need a large and effective educational system to create new bankers and engineers and maintain the supply. None of those things can be purchased.

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