THE DEVIL'S DUE :

The African exception : Experience in one sub-Saharan country shows that overseas aid is not the only prerequisite for growth (The Economist, Mar 28th 2002)

WHICH country has had the fastest growth in income per person over the past 35 years? A few hints: it's not an East Asian "tiger", such as South Korea or Singapore, nor an oil-rich Gulf state, nor China or the United States. The answer is Botswana, a landlocked former British colony in a region marked by poverty. [...]

Botswana serves as a useful case study in getting the details right. Sadly, this defies simple prescriptions. Some on the political left might attribute Botswana's success to egalitarianism. Not quite: inequality there is as severe as it is in Colombia or Brazil. Those on the right would like to point to a laisser-faire regime. Wrong again: the government spends a hefty 40% of GDP. [...]

Perhaps Britain's most valuable legacies, besides the English language, were the law and contract procedures. [...]

Wealthy and secure, the elite pursued sensible policies, such as a customs union with South Africa, and a currency pegged to the rand. [...]

Botswana's experience suggests that poor countries must try to align the incentives of the elite with those of the masses, much as companies in rich countries try to tie managers' rewards to those of shareholders. It also backs the view of Hernando de Soto, a Peruvian economist, who has proposed a stronger approach to land titling in poor countries. Where countries receive aid, Botswana's experience suggests that profitable goals include better courts and legal systems; and that one good use of cash is to fight diseases.

The authors here seem rather confused about "those on the right". One of the central beliefs of conservatism has long been that Law and order is a prerequisite for freedom. The "laisser-faire" of which the article speaks is appropriate, for example, within the context of an American system, a republic, which as John Adams said is "a government of laws, and not of men". But it is this recognition that the orderly administration of the law must precede freedom that has frequently led conservatives to support authoritarian regimes as a transitional form on the way to eventual democracy. It seems unlikely that any conservative would be as surprised as are the authors that Botswana's legacy of British law has played a central role in making it an exception to Africa's general decline.
Posted by Orrin Judd at August 17, 2002 8:42 AM