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While doing some reading for a seminar that I will be attending later this week, I came across two excellent articles by Leon Louw. I remembered hearing an earlier version of these articles when Leon was in Delhi in February 2002.

The Miracle of Poverty

Poverty is miraculous, perhaps the most extraordinary accomplishment of most modern governments. Poor countries are the world’s true “economic miracles,” not post-war Germany, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, Botswana or Mauritius. Prosperity in such countries is the natural outcome of relative economic freedom. It is normal. If there are “economic miracles,” they are backward countries, where governments have succeeded in preventing prosperity.

Strategies for achieving poverty

That we are living through an era of unprecedented global economic freedom and, consequently, a global tide of prosperity, notwithstanding minor setbacks in some advanced economies, causes serious problems for poverty-lovers. Technology, information, and prosperity, make it harder than ever to impoverish entire populations. But it can still be done. What can we learn from the world’s greatest poverty achievers?

(snip)

For a New Economic Miracle (NEM) consider Tanzania. Nkrumah had turned prosperous Ghana - Africa’s first decolonised independent country - into a basket-case, but Nyerere outperformed him. His single-minded Tanzanian “African socialism” experiment imposed massive social-service burdens and mind-numbing bureaucracies on the country. Banks and industries were taken over, and rural people were resettled in collective farming “ujamaa” villages. Success was immediate. He halved agricultural exports and wiped out three-quarters of industrial output. He discontinued road maintenance to the point where thousands of miles of good roads became crude tracks accessible only in 4×4s.

Nyerere, known affectionately to those who appreciated his greatness as “Mwalimu”, dragged per capita incomes down to $120 per annum, and left Tanzania as one of the seven poorest countries on earth despite being the recipient of the highest per capita foreign aid. He achieved unprecedented material, spare-part and foodstuff shortages while currency black markets flourished. The fine arts of inefficiency and corruption were perfected. The “father of African socialism” recognised that most Tanzanians got much poorer during his rule. He boasted about his achievements for years as a celebrated “hero of the struggle” in speeches that were followed by standing ovations … like the one he gave at a function I attended at Fort Hare University a few years ago.

Leon is a joy to hear and often reminds me of Voltaire’s quote: I have always made one prayer to God, a very short one. Here it is: “My God, make our enemies very ridiculous!” God has granted it to me.