Fraters Libertas

Around The World In Just A Few Pages

Every issue of The Economist is a treasure trove of interesting stories from around the world. It's difficult to get through each week's issue and catch all the articles that grab your interest before the next one shows up. Not that I'm complaining mind you. Here are a few examples from the June 23rd edition:

The first concerns the Millennium Challenge Corporation, an US aid agency whose methods merit attention:

Other donors tend to focus on tear-jerking issues such as AIDS, or on boosting the budgets of the better-run poor-country governments so they can provide better public services. The MCC seeks to promote economic growth in those countries--which is more complicated and takes more time.

Promoting economic growth also sounds a bit more conservative than the usual aid language: hence the charge that the MCC is "ideological". But since rapid growth in poor countries has consistently been accompanied by longer, healthier and more comfortable lives for their citizens, it is hardly a foolish aim.

The MCC is "uniquely transparent" about how it selects countries that qualify for its cash, according to Steve Radelet and Mvemba Dizolele of the Centre for Global Development, a think-tank. To be considered, a country must be poor: ie, its income per head must be $1,400 or less (though some middle-income countries will be considered next year). It must also meet minimum standards of political and economic freedom (as measured by various independent watchdogs), and it must not be too corrupt.

Sounds good, but how does it play out in practice?

The land-tenure system in Madagascar, as in most poor countries, is a mess. Few farmers have clear title to "their" land, so they cannot easily sell it or use it as collateral to raise loans to improve their productivity. They tend to use land until it is exhausted and then cut down more of Madagascar's pristine rainforest.

The land registry has a backlog of 200,000 claims, which it processes at the rate of 1,000 a year. All records are on paper, stored in mounds on shelves. Both the office's manual typewriters have broken "R" keys--the most common first letter of Malagasy surnames. The MCC is funding an effort to modernise and computerise the system.

Property rights as the foundation of economic development? What a novel concept.
Perhaps Mr. Geldof should spend some time with the folks at the MCC.

Next up is a story about improved relations between America and Vietnam:

America has two reasons for cosying up to Mr Phan. The first is economic. Trade rose from $451m in 1995 to $6.4 billion in 2004, boosted by a bilateral trade agreement signed in 2001. This week, Mr Bush pleased his guest by supporting Vietnam's bid to join the World Trade Organisation. Mr Phan also signed agreements on computer technology with Bill Gates and toured Harvard.

The other reason is military. A new deal hammered out with Donald Rumsfeld, the secretary of defence, goes well beyond the search for American soldiers still missing in Vietnam. Some Vietnamese officers will now attend senior defence colleges in America for training. Defence officials from each side will meet more often and will work to see where they can co-operate on security.

Hmmm...Now why would the United States and Vietnam be discussing closer military ties?

The two countries have a common concern: China. The Vietnamese have not forgotten that, after the American withdrawal, it was the Chinese who invaded their homeland. America, for its part, is increasingly suspicious of China's growing military budget. Having more cordial relations with what one Pentagon official described as a "significant and capable" armed force on China's border could be useful.

One wonders if perhaps the Pentagon's wish for better relations with Vietnam is part of a policy to "contain" China by working with countries on its periphery. If so, a country that could play a critical role in such a strategy is India (more on that here).

Over the years, the relationship between India and the US has had its share of ups and downs. But the good news is that, unlike many other countries, Indians have a very positive about Americans:



Lest you think that the negative feelings from much of the world toward Americans can be blamed on our unilateralist cowboy president consider this:

Given the lack of consistent long-term data, it is hard to know how these attitudes compare with, say, the 1960s. But this is the fifth survey of its kind since 2000. For that period, the Pew polls provide strong evidence that anti-Americanism is more than a blip associated with Mr Bush or Iraq.

Finally, we are offered yet another reason to pity the poor people of Cuba. Even the simplest pleasures of life, such as a enjoying a mouth watering cubano during lunch, are once again under the iron thumb of the state:

FOR a decade or so, scores of privately run stalls have peddled sandwiches, pizzas, sweets, milkshakes and the like outside hospitals, universities and other busy spots in Havana, Cuba's capital. They provided tasty snacks with a smile. This month, Fidel Castro's Communist government closed the stalls down, saying a state body will offer a snack service instead. Customers now expect unappetising bites, served with a scowl. Even regime loyalists grumble about the change.

You've heard of the Soup Nazi, but what about the Sandwich Commissar?

You enter the lobby of the Department of Lunch Sandwiches (breakfast sandwiches is a different department across the street), take a number, and wait ninety minutes. When your number is finally called, you shuffle to the counter, and a resentful clerk asks for your order.

"Um, can a get a cubano with extra mayo and maybe some sprouts and a pickle spear on the side?"

The clerk snaps back, "We only have sandwich model C65799 available. If you don't like it, no sandwich for you."

Foreign diplomats in Havana say that the crackdown on business is motivated by the official fear that it had become too successful. Cubans were learning what even China has come to realise: that private initiative is far better than the state at providing goods and services. Even in Mr Chávez's Venezuela, which claims to be building "21st-century socialism", armies of street vendors have their place. But, not, it seems in the vision of the future held by Cuba's 78-year-old president.

A glorious future in the Cuban workers paradise.