the commentary on William Easterly's is a valid one....
however, his comments on the Gate's speech seem misplaced ... how does he propose turning corrupt governments into ones that behave nicely...? How does he propose that a fair & free market will appear ? in many cases these unfair markets are an indirect result of a skewed trade policy with a free and fair market in europe, the us and elsewhere.... What Gates seems to be saying is grounded in reality (i dont know what projects they are involved in...so i cannot comment on the approach or whether it is destined for failure...) ... the market forces are not operating in a balanced way, because there various factors in play - corrupt governments, poor communication, bad infrastrcuture, mindsets...etc... its the typical problem of high taxation (18% VAT, 30% income tax...) and poor delivery (no roads, phones, etc...). You cannot avoid dealing with existing governments in place, there are bad apples, but there are some good ones too.... On 7/9/07, Amit Varma <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
John Stossel had a response to Gates's speech here: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/06/bill_gates_needs_an_econ_cours.html Also, on foreign aid, here's William Easterly: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-easterly6jul06,0,6188154.story?coll=la-opinion-rightrail
