tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905515.post4456230621225415650..comments2024-03-14T11:09:32.759-05:00Comments on Falkenblog: Africa and MacroEric Falkensteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07243687157322033496noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905515.post-88048719708828231602009-10-03T15:34:15.241-05:002009-10-03T15:34:15.241-05:00This article is all wrong - you're looking thr...This article is all wrong - you're looking through the wrong window.<br /><br />If you haven't read it already, you should read "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905515.post-26004421859111759032009-10-03T15:27:02.434-05:002009-10-03T15:27:02.434-05:00I definately think that the issue is about realtiv...I definately think that the issue is about realtive wealth; Africans are a couple of hundred years behind the Jews. I'm sure it was not very easy for one jew to get out the Prague ghetto back in 1800s even if he was especially talented with the burden of aunt Sara and Uncle Samuel hanging over him. The relationship is definately not linear. Often all they need is some sort of capital investmetn like a purchase of a donkey, however in order to invest in one they often have to say NO to more urgent needs like nutrition and medical care for their ever expanding families. It is a wheel-barrow case indeed.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04508599534349661455noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905515.post-59239476470063291022009-10-03T15:24:39.062-05:002009-10-03T15:24:39.062-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04508599534349661455noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905515.post-15882684090907723312009-10-03T12:09:43.235-05:002009-10-03T12:09:43.235-05:00J, correct me if I am wrong, but it seems to me in...J, correct me if I am wrong, but it seems to me in a Jewish community one becomes a target of "beggars" at a significantly higher level of wealth? This would allow for accumulation of capital. Also, in a Jewish community, you have a level of privacy - you can be wealthy with few people knowing it. In Africa, you have few options for concealing your status.Plamenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14209486398849262374noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905515.post-22867429926739076452009-10-03T10:16:40.383-05:002009-10-03T10:16:40.383-05:00I think Jewish poor relatives and beggars are the ...I think Jewish poor relatives and beggars are the most aggressive of the lot, they dont beg but they demand what they feel is theirs. Here is the story of a schnorrer (professional fundraiser aka beggar) who used to visit the house of the Baron de Rothschild to receive his weekly alms. On one particular visit, he is told that he cannot be supported that week. Visibly upset, he wants to know the reason. He is told that the Baron's daughter had been marÂried that week and that the wedding had been particularly costly and there were no funds left for charitable purposes. The shnorrer, reactÂing with a combination of understanding and protest, says: "I certainly don't mind the Baron marrying his daughter, but not with my money!"<br /><br />Yet we Jews somehow manage to amass some capital.Jhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05676167615981895061noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905515.post-45722332458803668522009-10-03T09:28:43.259-05:002009-10-03T09:28:43.259-05:00Kristof gave a Cambodian prostitute some money to ...Kristof gave a Cambodian prostitute some money to start a store in her village. Her family ate the inventory. <br /><br />Adam Smith talks about this phenomena quite a bit. He contracts the landed lord who spends his income on ostentatious charity - supporting the local villagers by hiring maids and gardeners and cooks and other <br />"unproductive" labor. The bourgeois alternative is to buy what Smith calls trinkets of frivolous utility, like pocketwatches. There's a big difference between blowing $5000 on a watch and blowing it on a vacation. The watch can always be resold on Craigslist.bjknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905515.post-66511733734531553072009-10-03T00:07:48.393-05:002009-10-03T00:07:48.393-05:00Eric, and J,
Dalrymple's argument is bang on....Eric, and J, <br />Dalrymple's argument is bang on. I've worked as a Pacific analyst for the past decade or so, and I can tell you the big man problem is as pervasive there as it is in Africa. I also grew up in PNG, and it always struck us how difficult it was for anyone to start a business or get ahead when the wantoks (relatives) came looking for handouts. The big man culture may not explain 100% of the corruption problem - certainly tribal rivalries and the abuse of aid dollars can also be partly to blame. But it is, in my view, the dominant issue.Davidnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905515.post-15721278737137689482009-10-02T17:17:54.474-05:002009-10-02T17:17:54.474-05:00Wouldn't they wheel the soldier around in a ca...Wouldn't they wheel the soldier around in a cart? Maybe we should say that Africa is a "Wheelbarrow Case".Pete Shttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01722037274235500118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905515.post-27167812205264686152009-10-02T03:06:34.571-05:002009-10-02T03:06:34.571-05:00Do Africans take their family obligations more ser...Do Africans take their family obligations more seriously than the Chinese? or Europeans? Do they maintain their children and pay for their education? African poor relatives are more demanding than say Jewish ones? I dont think the "Big Man" theory explains corruption.Jhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05676167615981895061noreply@blogger.com