Oliver Hansen

Reason Magazine has an article titled Why Poor Countries Are Poor. I wasn’t sure what to expect when reading it but it does cover some things that anyone who’s tried to help development in a poor country will notice right away. I found this paragraph to sum up the major points:

There’s no point investing in a business because the government will not protect you against thieves. (So you might as well become a thief yourself.) There’s no point in paying your phone bill because no court can make you pay. (So there’s no point being a phone company.) There’s no point setting up an import business because the customs officers will be the ones to benefit. (So the customs office is underfunded and looks even harder for bribes.) There’s no point getting an education because jobs are not handed out on merit. (And in any case, you can’t borrow money for school fees because the bank can’t collect on the loan.)