The White Man's Burden
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ecaf_660.fm Page 82 Friday, August 11, 2006 3:32 PM Book reviews THEBlackwellOxford,ECAFEconomic0265-0665©xxxxBookbookiea Institute economic reviews UK Publishing,Affairs of affairs Economic xxx Ltd. 2006Affairs 2006 WHITE MAN’S regimes on the lives of billions. William several leading economists, private Easterly’s The Elusive Quest for Growth, philanthropists, political activists, popular BURDEN: WHY THE published in 1999, changed that and in the culture icons and political decision-makers WEST’S EFFORTS TO process shifted the debate in development have all turned their attention to the plight of economics considerably in both the academic the underdeveloped world. Health and human AID THE REST HAVE literature and the public policy discourse. welfare concerns in the developing world, DONE SO MUCH ILL Easterly’s message in that book was simple with the treatment of HIV/Aids at the top of and clear: incentives matter. As my teacher the list, but also the low-cost treatment of AND SO LITTLE James Buchanan (winner of the Nobel Prize in malaria, have become topics of conversation GOOD Economics in 1986) used to say all the time to in Hollywood, Washington DC and Downing his classes: ‘It takes varied reiterations to force Street. Sustainable development with William Easterly alien concepts upon reluctant minds’. Easterly concerns about the environment, questions New York: Penguin, 436pp., throughout The Elusive Quest for Growth of human rights and the phenomena of demonstrates again and again how the failure human trafficking in Eastern Europe and Asia, ISBN: 159 420 0378, $27.95 (hb), 2006 of policy-makers to align incentives between and the debilitating consequences of debt are donor countries and recipient countries, and all debated in classrooms, are the stated Since World War II billions have been among economic actors within recipient purpose behind concerts and warrant front- spent on foreign aid by the Western countries, and within bureaucracies within page coverage in the leading newspapers and democracies in the attempt to lift the donor countries, results in the failure of periodicals. Bono, the lead singer of U2, has underdeveloped countries of Africa, Asia, foreign aid to be effective. The perversity of in recent years become as recognisable Latin America and elsewhere from poverty. incentives explains why Keynesian investment throughout the world for his tireless Yet over a billion people continue to live in gap theory failed to generate development, campaigning for third-world debt forgiveness conditions of extreme poverty – according why human capital investments didn’t work, as he has been for his jarring performances on to one estimation by the World Bank one in and also why population control through stage. Bill Gates is now devoting his massive five subsists on less than $1 per day in the condom distribution didn’t produce the wealth to addressing the social ills in Africa. developing world. Progress has been made desired results either. In the abstract, more Sharon Stone is perhaps more concerned with since 1990, but those gains can be attributed investment, more schooling and prudent providing malaria nets to the poor than in her to general economic growth and not foreign decision-making on family size (all of which performance in Basic Instinct 2. aid programmes. are positively correlated with economic As for economists, Nobel Prize winner P. T. Bauer was perhaps the most forceful growth in the Western democracies) are Joseph Stiglitz has turned his attentions to critique of foreign aid programmes, and indicators of development. But of course like raising concerns about IMF and World Bank the strongest advocate for indigenous in all things economic, it depends on the policy and the social tensions and discontents development by ground-level entrepreneurs in specific context and the incentive structures (not the promise) that globalisation the developing world. Bauer began his assault that exist to channel self-interested behaviour represents. But without doubt the economist on the grand planners of development in the in a manner which either promotes or hinders who has ridden this wave the most is Jeffrey 1950s and never relented throughout his the division of labour and social co-operation. Sachs. Sachs has achieved almost rock star career. He was in this regard a lone-wolf Too often in the developing world, as Easterly status with his globe-trotting efforts to end scholar. Professional opinion and public painstakingly demonstrates, the incentive world poverty in a generation. Unfortunately ideology cut against Bauer’s judgment structures due to foreign aid steer individuals for Sachs (and perhaps the world) there are that market forces were the best poverty- into unproductive behaviour and thus the goal these little issues of incentives and alleviation policy. Bauer protested but billions of poverty alleviation is not met. information that often makes the best laid in foreign aid continued to be spent. The But even if we aligned incentives perfectly plans of men go astray. And it is at this point problem was, as Bauer contended, that the there may exist significant problems with that we turned to William Easterly again. billions in foreign aid produced perverse ‘grand plans’ to eradicate poverty. Think Easterly’s new book The White Man’s incentives, and enabled corrupt and about it this way: in addressing the question Burden tackles the ambitious plans of oppressive governments to continue with of ‘Doing the right thing’ there are two economists throughout the modern age to try exploitive and inefficient public policies. questions which must be answered: (1) why to address the question of underdevelopment For years Bauer was the only economist should we do the right thing (a question of and why those efforts have gone repeatedly of note in the field of development economics incentive alignment and compatibility), and badly. As in The Elusive Quest for Growth, to continually stress this point about basic (2) what is the right thing to do (a question of Easterly’s message is straightforward and economic incentives and the consequences of information and learning). Since Easterly’s he stresses his main point through varied bad public policy conducted by unresponsive The Elusive Quest for Growth was published illustrations. The book develops, as I said © Institute of Economic Affairs 2006. Published by Blackwell Publishing, Oxford ecaf_660.fm Page 83 Friday, August 11, 2006 3:32 PM iea economic affairs september 2006 83 before, the argument beyond incentives and The reader is thus left with a simple and (degree of satisfaction over various, relevant stresses that information is necessary as well. powerful message. The only true path to domains such as health, working conditions, He divides the public policy discourse into development is an indigenous one and in private life etc., instrumental to the overall two camps – the searchers and the finding that path it is better to rely on the assessment) and show how beneficial to our planners – and he shows the relevant merits of searchers than the planners. In stating this understanding of social phenomena subjective the searches in eradicating social ills and the so clearly and in a manner that is guided by testimony can be. By doing so, the book futility of planners to achieve their ambitious reason and evidence (as well as a deep argues for a ‘roughly cardinal’ measure of goals. Evidence in the book is drawn from not compassion for the least advantaged in the happiness, where ‘roughly’ suggests that only the plight of underdeveloped countries in world) William Easterly’s book is essential cardinalisation is achieved within intervals Africa, but also the efforts to build a market reading for all who are concerned with the rather than on a continuous space. society in East and Central Europe since 1989. issues of poverty throughout the world and The book is ideally organised in two In the process the reader learns why you what we can do about it. parts. The former, Chapters 2 to 6, sets the cannot plan a market economy, how it is that Peter J. Boettke methodological framework and argues that planners and gangsters come to be aligned, Professor of Economics, George Mason ‘we may deal with satisfaction as with other and why top-down approaches to University economic variables and that we may use them development generate unintended and [email protected] in econometric analysis in almost the same undesirable consequences, while bottom-up way as “objective” variables’. The latter and indigenous processes of development illustrates how the methodology is applied to actually work to raise the standard of living HAPPINESS the measurement of satisfaction in a number for the least advantaged in any society. Recent of domains, ranging from the uncertainties success stories, we are told, ‘are countries that QUANTIFIED: about the future (Chapter 7), to the influence did not get a lot of foreign aid and did not A SATISFACTION of norms and groups (Chapter 8), to health spend a lot of time in IMF programs’ (p. 345). (Chapter 9), climate (Chapter 10), taxation The success is not due to global plans to end CALCULUS (Chapter 12) and income inequality poverty, but due to homegrown efforts to APPROACH (Chapters 13 to 15). Some space (Chapter 11) is align incentives, utilise local information and also devoted to a policy case – compensation learn through market experimentation the Bernard van Praag and for aircraft noise nuisance – to illustrate best way to realise the gains from trade among Ada Ferrer-I-Carbonell how the approach may be used in policy- the people. making. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 368pp., Easterly’s main point is certainly Adversed by formidable opponents, ISBN: 019 828 6546, £47.00 (hb), 2004 consistent with the insights of P. T. Bauer that subjective testimony just started moving we started with.