Development Economics
Conversation with Voon on MSN:
Voon: Hello :)
Me: Heya! How are you?
Voon: I'm good, just got back from class. Such a nice day to sleep...
Me: Hahahaha! I just got back from dinner with my Econ Prof.
Voon: Wah, what you doing grace???
Me: Huh??
Voon: There's been enough cases of student-teacher affairs in America, Grace...
Me: He's married...and old...and we went with two other students...
Voon: Ok lah, just kidding jangan merajuk...
***
Conversing with people passionate about Development Economics just stir something in my heart. If I had more time, I would love to take up this field of studies. Needless to say, you can't do everything and time is a scarce commodity. As much as I enjoy business, development economics (ok, and politics, and philosophy, and religion etc etc) really intrigues me. This one course I am taking on development economics has challenged much of my 'conventional' mindset on aid. Like some political science majors, I used to be all for HIPC (debt cancellation to Highly Indebted Poor Countries) and aid aid aid for underdeveloped countries. But now that I am reading different aid theories, and loads of statistics of how aid doesn't work to alleviate countries from poverty, I am just astounded by the fact that the world has no answer as to how to end world poverty. So, I have read Jeffrey Sachs's "The End of Poverty" where he advocated donor countries keep their Millenium Development Goals (MDG) of providing 0.7% GNP for aid...and with a miracle grand plan, the end of poverty will be realized by 2025. Ok, if it were three years ago, I may agree with him and advocated the same thing, but with all these economics theories swimming around my head, I am more cognizant that the poverty problem is so much more complicated. It cannot be solved with free money -- non monetary accountability/non-accountability extinguishes the incentive factor pivotal to a stable economy. It is extremely complicated, and the worse thing is that the world doesn't have the answer. And that distresses me...
Will we be able to really cut poverty in half by 2015? How??
Voon: Hello :)
Me: Heya! How are you?
Voon: I'm good, just got back from class. Such a nice day to sleep...
Me: Hahahaha! I just got back from dinner with my Econ Prof.
Voon: Wah, what you doing grace???
Me: Huh??
Voon: There's been enough cases of student-teacher affairs in America, Grace...
Me: He's married...and old...and we went with two other students...
Voon: Ok lah, just kidding jangan merajuk...
***
Conversing with people passionate about Development Economics just stir something in my heart. If I had more time, I would love to take up this field of studies. Needless to say, you can't do everything and time is a scarce commodity. As much as I enjoy business, development economics (ok, and politics, and philosophy, and religion etc etc) really intrigues me. This one course I am taking on development economics has challenged much of my 'conventional' mindset on aid. Like some political science majors, I used to be all for HIPC (debt cancellation to Highly Indebted Poor Countries) and aid aid aid for underdeveloped countries. But now that I am reading different aid theories, and loads of statistics of how aid doesn't work to alleviate countries from poverty, I am just astounded by the fact that the world has no answer as to how to end world poverty. So, I have read Jeffrey Sachs's "The End of Poverty" where he advocated donor countries keep their Millenium Development Goals (MDG) of providing 0.7% GNP for aid...and with a miracle grand plan, the end of poverty will be realized by 2025. Ok, if it were three years ago, I may agree with him and advocated the same thing, but with all these economics theories swimming around my head, I am more cognizant that the poverty problem is so much more complicated. It cannot be solved with free money -- non monetary accountability/non-accountability extinguishes the incentive factor pivotal to a stable economy. It is extremely complicated, and the worse thing is that the world doesn't have the answer. And that distresses me...
Will we be able to really cut poverty in half by 2015? How??
posted by Grace at 3/20/2007 12:05:00 AM
7 Comments:
wahlau..... =.="
You wahlau what...?
wahlau...haha!
What the heck is this language!!! That whalau thing sounds like a cow just died - what does it mean???
As for ending poverty by 2025... I wish. But after talking to dad about the subject, I am not so certain of any possibility. And anyways, it is written in the Bible that we will always have the poor with us. So there's the answer. I think we should still try to reduce it as much as possible, if there's a way.
Wahlau is Maglish. In the laymans term.. it translates as "what the heck.."
i think poverty can be ended if the whole world was forced to adopt communism for half a decade.. so the income gap can be forcefull and unwillingly be taken from the rich. After that period can reimpose democracy. Want any more crazy ideas from me ? =P
the poor you will always have. but blessed are those who are poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God.
Thanks voon, I lived in Malaysia once, but didn't catch all the Maglish. One phrase I remember from the Tennis Court is "See you Hari Wednesday!" I remember enough Malay to get me some Fried Chicken, a few fried bananas, some fruits, vegetables, and water...
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