Comments on: Hubbard on Kenny

By: David Wetherell

David Wetherell — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:22:18 +0000

Neither of these guys are thinking big enough.

One grand scheme to advance the economic growth of sub-Saharan and Saharan Africa is to divert a portion of the Congo and Nile Rivers into the Sahara. This would serve several purposes:

1. It would turn the Sahara into arable land – more food and living space.
2. It would stop desertification.
3. It would help offset the melting of polar ice caps and glaciers, since less water would be flowing into the ocean from these giant rivers.
4. It would create large economic development zones where there are none.

By: Mike in NYC

Mike in NYC — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:01:51 +0000

As usual, no room is made for the rational conclusion that native Africans are inherently backward.

Bill’s close shave would be of benefit here.

By: dsquared

dsquared — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 07:55:39 +0000

[By contrast, much more consensus among economists exists for the power of a vibrant business sector in making possible entrepreneurship, innovation, and growth]

good Lord, some poor bugger will have the job of editing this book of Hubbard’s. Weep for him.

By: anonymous

anonymous — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 04:54:52 +0000

Lincoln was a smart guy but almost surely wrong on this point.

To create useful steam-powered machinery requires very high pressures, and the metallurgy needed to construct containment vessels capable of withstanding such pressures was not invented until the British did so as part of the Industrial Revolution.

By: Matt Rognlie

Matt Rognlie — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 02:35:30 +0000

I hesitate to judge without reading Hubbard’s book, but his commentary strikes me as incoherent. He boldly declares that we need a “Marshall Plan” for Africa, yet proceeds to laud Kenny for his emphasis on modesty. He talks about the need to encourage business and entrepreneurship, but he doesn’t offer any new explanation of how a crash Western aid program might accomplish this. In fact, he seems to miss Kenny’s point. After the failure of massive aid projects to improve the economies of third-world nations, we should focus on what works — providing cheap medicines, supplying clean water, and generally easing the worst hardships of life in undeveloped countries. If we’re lucky, this might make growth a little easier too.