From poverty to power - Oxfam-Québec

FROM POVERTY TO POWERThe aid optimist:Jeffrey Sachs(The End of Poverty)WeaknessesMassive aid is necessarybut may not be sufficient:Sachs assumes thatbreaking the poverty trapalone will unleasheconomic growth.Interventions are limitedto agriculture, basicsocial services, and basicrural infrastructure.Underplays the importanceof politics andpower in development:Weak on institutions:Strong institutions(especially public institutions)are needed totranslate national strategiesinto effective investmentson the ground.Weak on citizenship:Active citizenship isneeded to set prioritiesfor decentralised investmentstargeting thepoorest people and tohold local and nationalinstitutions accountable.Sachs’ big push is similarto the integrated ruraldevelopment programmesof the 1970s,which failed due to lackof government support,manipulation by localelites, and low levels ofparticipation (althoughSachs addresses this lastpoint by stressing theimportance of participationin project design).The aid pessimist:William Easterly(White Man’s Burden)Undermines support formassive increase in aidbudgets that is necessaryto provide basic socialservices and meet theMDGs.Underplays the importanceof politics andpower in development:Ignores the role of thestate in creating the marketconditions in which‘Searchers’ can flourish.Market solutions will notwork for people whosewealth and income aretoo low to register as‘market demand’.Ignores the central roleof planning in developmentsuccess storiessuch as China, Viet Nam,South Korea, orBotswana.Does not give a chance todonors to apply lessonslearned and plan aid withmore accountability andrecipient ownership.Stronger on critique thanon proposition.Paul Collier(The Bottom Billion)Overall the diagnosis ismuch more compellingthan the conclusions(except on post-conflictreconstruction).Blind spots on inequality,sustainability and climatechange, and rights.Largely ignores politicalscience, history, andother disciplines infavour of almost exclusivereliance on the mathematicalwizardryof ‘econometrics’ toestablish links andcausation betweenvariables such as aid andconflict. Applicability ofthis kind of econometricanalysis is disputed.The dramatis personaeare made up almostentirely of benevolenteconomists and heroicfinance ministers, facedwith incompetent orcorrupt governments andcivil servants trying tothwart them. No recognitionof the role ofpolitical parties, tradeunions, or active citizenshipof any sort.An orthodox liberaliseron trade and investment,with little time for NGOconcerns about negativeimpacts of prematureliberalisation.Sources: J. Sachs (2005) The End of Poverty: How We Can Make it Happen in Our Lifetime,Penguin; www.millenniumvillages.org; W. Easterly (2006) White Man’s Burden: Why theWest’s Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good, Penguin;P. Collier (2007) The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries are Failing and What CanBe Done About It, Oxford University Press.362