tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622225605650065211.post4919520533766447284..comments2024-02-15T03:13:49.505-08:00Comments on Economic Policy Advice for Barack Obama: Paul Romer is Alarmingly IgnorantUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622225605650065211.post-3838776070573563732009-12-22T09:36:27.529-08:002009-12-22T09:36:27.529-08:00OK, so Africa is going to fill itself up by buying...OK, so Africa is going to fill itself up by buying French wine, Kobe beef and mail-order Omaha steaks? Why don't they just eat cake as well? <br /><br />The third-world's manufacturing productivity is actually much more similar to the first world's -- the really big gap is in Agricultural value added. And the US does export a lot of agricultural stuff... <br /><br />Even so, Africa faces other problems -- hunger, protein deficiency, lack of infrastructure, high transport costs from the interior... 80% of Tanzanians get part of their income from agriculture or fishing -- they haven't beaten Malthus yet. Their population has grown from like 7 million to 44 million since 1950 (if memory serves...) -- that's actually fairly fast economic growth, even if their incomes are no higher. <br /><br />It's also true that their institutions suck. But, if they could employ western agricultural technology, they'd be much better off...Thorstein Veblenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17030406395794996377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622225605650065211.post-6896995852938088932009-12-21T19:41:26.207-08:002009-12-21T19:41:26.207-08:00Why couldn't they just buy agriculture on the ...Why couldn't they just buy agriculture on the world market and produce something else? A little comparative advantage. The reason is that Romer is right, they lack the necessary institutions to make use of all the first worlds technological innovations. <br /><br />The legal institutions and cultural norms of the third world are what hold them down. Not agricultural tech and not their geography.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com