Response to Week 2 Readings

Christine Chun

This week’s readings, William Easterly’s “Can the West Save Africa”, Chapters 1-4 of Elhanan Helpman’s The Mystery of Economic Growth, and Chapter 10 of Todd J. Moss’ African Development, all seem to ask the same questions regarding how to alleviate poverty and boost economic growth. The problem is there is no one fast-track way of doing it. Helpman shows that all rich countries do not have the same economic formula or history, so then how can there be one for the whole of Africa? He talks about different theories of economic growth (in a very inconveniently difficult way for a non-economist), but the thing is that they all work together. Learning-by-doing increases human capital that contributes to a society’s stock of knowledge, and technological change plus the other ideas stem from learning-by-doing. Economic growth seems to stem from a cycle of learning and applying what you learn with the goal of improving quality of life. That is how, at the basic core, a nation can get out of poverty. If the citizens of African nations can have the ability and courage to learn and do, growth will come naturally.

Growth, however, takes time and that is something that aid practitioners and agencies do not seem to understand. Both Moss and Easterly’s readings talk about how some people think Africa is in a “poverty trap” and therefore, they need foreign aid to get out of it. Yet with aid, poverty in Africa seems to have gotten worse, but then aid advocates say it is because not enough money has been given. So then can they estimate how much will solve the problem? I highly doubt it because money does not solve anything. Much of the aid money goes to support corrupt governments and that is why there is a “poverty trap” because the people hardly see any of the money. Unfortunately, aid is “in” right now. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are great aspirations, but they too call for more foreign aid. Celebrity attention from famous people like Bono and Angelina Jolie ask for aid, and it is wonderful that they are spreading awareness, but I hope that this is not just a trend. Along with pushing for more foreign aid, aid programs want transformation fast. The MDGs are trying to meet their goals within 15 years, but there are less than 5 years left, and progress is less than ideal. The U.S. did not become prosperous in 15 years, and although these are different times, we cannot expect Africa too either. From my experience in Kenya, I believe that education is the best solution for alleviating poverty, and not just primary education, but secondary, and tertiary if doable. Obviously this will take time, at least 19 years, but even more time for the students to apply what they’ve learned into their society. What they learn is significant, but also the quality of education and teachers they are receiving. Eventually the youth of today will be the leaders of tomorrow; therefore it is essential they learn about the issues in their society such as corruption and HIV/AIDS at a young age, so that they will not make the same mistakes of their predecessors. The governments must support (or be pressured to) free education at least through the secondary level if they want to see real change. In Kenya, there is only free universal primary education, so many of the children could not afford to continue into high school, and thus they either stayed at home or ended up on the streets. How is that productive for the country? Education empowers people, and with empowerment, they will want a better life and no more poverty.