'Lost' Swedish aid millions are the tip of the iceberg (How to send $11 300 000 000 down the drain)

www.thelocal.se ^ | 12/08/2007 | Nima Sanandaji

[WesternCulture]

Scandinavia wastes an annual of $11,3 billion on fruitless "foreign aid" projects. This despite strong evidence that foreign aid to communist and corrupt regimes is a poor alternative to progressive capitalism.

"An illustrative example is that South Korea was about twice as rich as Zambia in 1960. Since then Zambia has received 13 times more in foreign aid per capita compared to South Korea. Today however, South Korea is fully 38 times richer than Zambia. " (Quote from the article below).

Sweden, in resemblance to the other Scandinavian countries, have pledged to annually spend at least 1% of its GDP on foreign aid. However, today the focus seems to have shifted from "aiding" to "spending".

That goes for the rest of the Scandinavian countries too, who also have adopted the ideal of spending 1% of their GDP on aiding communist, totalitarian and corrupt regimes instead of the subjugated citizens they oppress.

This means that Scandinavia altogether spends a total of $11 300 million on providing artificial respiration for regimes that otherwise would have been overthrown decades ago.

The article:

"'Lost' Swedish aid millions are the tip of the iceberg

How many people are publicly employed in the Democratic Republic of Congo? Swedish Radio reported recently that foreign aid agency SIDA has spent 22 million kronor on finding an answer to this question. SIDA has not clarified what this large sum of money has been spent on in one of the most corrupt countries in Africa.

A total of 15 million kronor has been spent on consulting fees in the project, but no information has been given regarding how many consultants were hired and how this sum was calculated.

Related Articles Swedish observers flee after Hebron attack 8th February 2006 Police investigate 20m kronor Sida fraud 2nd November 2005 Article Options Send to a friend Printable version Submit to Digg.com

This is, alas, not the only example of large sums being wasted on foreign aid. As foreign aid has been an integral part of the economy of many African countries, many nations in the region have been accused of developing so-called “vampire states”. This term is used to describe regimes that literally live of the misery of their inhabitants.

African head of states such as Jean-Bédel Bokassa in Central Africa, Mobutu Sese Seko in Democratic Republic of Congo (then known as Zaire), Idi Amin in Uganda and Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe have all become infamous for amassing large private fortunes through exploiting their countries. But these individuals only represent the top of an iceberg of corruption that underlies many African states.

The generous foreign aid policies of the western world worsen this problem, since much of the money that the corrupt bureaucracy feeds on comes directly from aid. In a similar way a large aid industry has been created in the western world, where tens of thousands of government officials and even more people in aid organizations are making a living out of the aid industry.

Those working in the western aid industry are of course not as corrupt as African aid officials, but they still represent how the self interest of those working with aid has become an integral part of the foreign aid industry.

Today when both the UN and the center-right government of Sweden are calling for more foreign aid, it is time to question the very practice of foreign aid. After the Second World War both South Eastern Asia and Africa were among the poorest regions in the world. Since then, African countries have relied heavily on foreign aid, socialism and state control of the economy. Since 1970 Africa has received over $400 million in aid. But the foreign aid has done little to reduce poverty. Rather, Africa has simply stagnated.

The countries of South Eastern Asia have had a different kind of political development, where they have made free market reforms and not relied as much on foreign aid. By implementing property rights, allowing people to start businesses and maintaining the rule of law countries such as South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore have achieved great prosperity.

An illustrative example is that South Korea was about twice as rich as Zambia in 1960. Since then Zambia has received 13 times more in foreign aid per capita compared to South Korea. Today however, South Korea is fully 38 times richer than Zambia.

Many people simply see foreign aid as a way of being kind to the poor, but as history has shown us this policy often stands in the way of economic development rather than promoting it.

Here in Sweden, we must not only put more pressure on SIDA to ensure that the aid does not simply feed corruption, but also ask ourselves if the foreign aid policies are helping at all. After decades spent hoping that foreign aid would lift Africa out of poverty perhaps it is time to end aid-dependence and attempt to persuade African nations to implement free market reforms similar to those in South Eastern Asia."

Nima Sanandaji President of the Swedish free market think tank Captus

[cinives]

progressive capitalism

Another name for socialism lite

[WesternCulture]

"Another name for socialism lite"

Okay, that might be how the expression is interpreted in some contexts.

What I, on the other hand, was aiming at is "progressive" as in a government stimulating:

- Investments in r&d
- Technology improvement
- Developing of marketing skills
- Knowledge
- Understanding of the idea of democracy and citizenship

as opposed to:

- Sitting on your fat ass, selling oil.

[river rat]

"An illustrative example is that South Korea was about twice as rich as Zambia in 1960. Since then Zambia has received 13 times more in foreign aid per capita compared to South Korea. Today however, South Korea is fully 38 times richer than Zambia."

All cultures are NOT equal...

Semper Fi

[kinoxi]

Since 1970 Africa has received over $400 million in aid.

That sounds way too low. 400 billion maybe.

[Redbob]

"An illustrative example is that South Korea was about twice as rich as Zambia in 1960. Since then Zambia has received 13 times more in foreign aid per capita compared to South Korea. Today however, South Korea is fully 38 times richer than Zambia."

Soooo... the solution would be for Sweden to start sending foreign aid to South Korea?

[bpjam]

Only $11.3B? I wish we could get it down that low. We probably waste that much money paying fraudulent claims on Medicare each year in CA and FL alone.

[kinoxi]

It's got to be 400 billion instead of million unless this is only referring to Swedish aid.
http://www.usaid.gov/policy/budget/cbj2006/afr/

[WesternCulture]

"All cultures are NOT equal..."

To begin with, I don't recognize terrorism, laziness, bungy jumping or farting in bed as "cultures".

Cultures are social patterns of behavior and ideas that in a particular context enables the survival of a population featuring a large degree of internal social, economical, communicative and other kinds of mutual exchange.

All cultures are not equal in terms of responding to a GIVEN situation in a manner that promotes their long term survival.

But their performance in that respect depends on WHAT the given circumstances actually are.

In one context some will be losers and others winners, while the tables might be turned in a different one.

When it comes to the individual level, my belief is that all human beings that are born "healthy", can develop into persons that are able of understanding the intellectual achievements of great minds like Leonardo da Vinci, Albert Einstein and Galileo Galilei.

A true CULTURE, like the Western one, today encompassing a multitude of individuals who've realized WHY thinkers like the above mentioned ones are to be seen as guides holding the keys to a paradise on Earth, is highly superior to any clan that attacks it guided by pre-renaissance religious beliefs and.

The world hegemony today in possession of the West and its allies (like South Korea and Japan), perhaps isn't eternal .

But today it is, by all means, alive and kicking - contrary to Talibanism which will not be successful in the social and moral code it is trying to impose on the people of Afghanistan.

What signifies friends of Western Civilization is that we alone (although many of us are unaware of it) are actually carrying out a program invented in the days when Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci walked the streets of Florence, Italy.

Namely:

Man being the supreme ruler and center of the universe through the divine spark that is the human intellect and freedom of choice.

Pico della Mirandola says it best:
http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~wldciv/world_civ_reader/world_civ_reader_1/pico.html

[WesternCulture]

"It's got to be 400 billion instead of million unless this is only referring to Swedish aid."

The figure mentioned in the headline is an estimation of what the Scandinavian countries altogether have pledged to reserve for projects concerning foreign aid, namely 1% of their total GDP.

The Swedish GDP is a little less than 1/3 of the total Scandinavian one of appr $ 11 300 million, namely $358,810 million (according to IMF statistics).

1% of the Swedish GDP is therefore appr $3588 million.

Be careful not to confuse SER with USD.

This is my source regarding GDP statistics of the Scandinavian countries:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_%28Nominal%29

It's possible I made some mistake above. I'm not good at numbers and huge amounts of money.

Perhaps I should be entrusted with issues of handing out foreign aid?

[WesternCulture]

Correction:

SEK is the abbreviation designating the currency of Sweden, not SER.

I apologize.

[Vince Ferrer]

This article misses the point. The point of the aid is to feel good, especially by being able to blame America for "not doing enough." Whether the aid actually helps oppressed people is not even worth investigating.

[WesternCulture]

"This article misses the point. The point of the aid is to feel good, especially by being able to blame America for "not doing enough." Whether the aid actually helps oppressed people is not even worth investigating."

Yes, the point of the aid is, primarily, to feel good. Scandinavians don't actually care much for Africa, even though my impression is that we're not a bunch of racists or anything like that. In fact, we don't care much for Germans or Britons etc either.

When Scandinavians address issues of foreign aid, we seldom look to what the US are doing or happen to be neglectful of. On the other hand, I HAVE heard Scandinavian media reporting that the US spends a much smaller percentage of its accumulated wealth on aid then we do. However, this is not a major concern of ours. But I admit, some stupid Scandinavians might find this fact as being a useful weapon for attacking the US from a PC platform. To our brothers and sisters living across the Atlantic Ocean: Please remember all Scandinavians are not the same.