tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16594468.post7107008352604064073..comments2023-10-24T04:29:23.693-06:00Comments on Atheist Ethicist: Foreign AidAlonzo Fyfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05687777216426347054noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16594468.post-34856532798518521392008-08-22T11:15:00.000-06:002008-08-22T11:15:00.000-06:00Jeffrey Sachs has some relevant practical recommen...Jeffrey Sachs has some relevant practical recommendations for the sort of effective foreign aid we should be engaging in in his most recent book Common Wealth (which I found to be excellent, one of the best books I've read this year.)Hume's Ghosthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13551684109760430351noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16594468.post-49522368216297249252008-08-21T09:15:00.000-06:002008-08-21T09:15:00.000-06:00Alonzo: A great piece! A provoking topic! While i...Alonzo:<BR/> A great piece! A provoking topic! While it may get more people thinking about the formulae associated with "foreign aid", I would suggest that it does not address the most important aspect of foreign aid, which is "The money MUST be spent purchasing products and/or services from the benevolent nation (in this case US American suppliers or corporate entities controlled by US interests), most often at inflated prices, with no warrantees or guarantees, and from a list of approved products supplied by the US government"<BR/><BR/>For example, if my company manufactured a vacuum cleaner that didn't get consumer acceptance in the US, and I was a "favourite son" of the current administration, my vacuum cleaners would be on the list, and usually at an inflated price. Also, I would not have to provide a warrantee or guarantee. I could "top up" any shipments with vacuum cleaners that failed quality control inspection. In fact, the entire shipment could be made up of "rejects". In many instances, the local power supply may not even match the requirements to make my vacuum cleaners work. Mind you, I would make certain that a "super" version of my vacuum cleaner was presented to the local leader, King, etc. <BR/><BR/>The financial picture may look something like the following"<BR/><BR/>Total aid package = $10 million<BR/>Actual Cost = $2 million<BR/>"Value" of goods = $ 250,000<BR/>Corporate Tax deduction = $5 million<BR/><BR/>Publicity value to corporation and US = priceless!<BR/><BR/>And then there are the situations where some of the uses of our "benevolence" get back to our citizens. To site an instance:<BR/><BR/>"Several million dollars of aid were given to an African Nation. They used it to buy garbage trucks, one of a very few items on the shopping list provided. The African nation then used the garbage trucks as "tanks" and "troop transportation". When the story got back to North America its citizens were outraged that their "aid" had been so outrageously misused. The manufacturer of those "garbage trucks" had a very profitable year. The trucks didn't last very long, not because they were inferior, but because they were originally intended for NA streets, not for traveling in Sahara sands. The story got back to NA when a mechanic employed by the NA supplier and hired by and paid for by the African nation, told the story, complete with pictures, to the North American press. Very few of our continents "newspapers" or "magazines" would carry the story. I wonder why??antonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02909850387414677663noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16594468.post-84812311871966723762008-08-21T02:52:00.000-06:002008-08-21T02:52:00.000-06:00Much of what you say is confirmed by this book: ht...Much of what you say is confirmed by this book: <BR/><BR/>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confessions_of_an_Economic_Hit_Man<BR/><BR/>which I heartily recommend. :)Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05777941879153557022noreply@blogger.com