Posted on 02/10/2005 5:40:06 AM PST by FreeMarket1
THE DAVOS QUESTION: HELP OTHERS OR HELP YOURSELF?
Feb 10, 2005 - FreeMarketNews.com
by staff reports
The International Center for Economic Growth (ICEG) has recently concluded its annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland. The organization whose stated mission is: “To encourage sustainable and equitable economic opportunity and to find effective solutions to human development challenges.”
They hope to do this by “leading economic policy and reform, changing civil society, and investing in the poor.”
Bill Bonner of the Daily Reckoning asks whether one should fault those in attendance for their idealism. Should they not be given credit for trying to improve things? His answer is a qualified “yes,” and he remarks:
“One by one, the world's leaders rise. Solemnly, sincerely, they call for absurd measures - every one of which involves grand larceny. A few billion for this project...a few more billion for another. And not a penny of it out of the pockets of the great and good who, when not pompously grandstanding, are enjoying the caviar and champagne at Davos - usually, at someone else's expense.
"With a few notable exceptions, such as Bill Gates, none of those present has ever done anything but make the planet worse. They call for an end to world hunger - but none has planted a single turnip. They want to raise the Africans out of poverty - but who among them has started a business or built a bridge on that Dark Continent? They say they are for peace, but nearly everyone proposes some form of meddling in the affairs of others - almost sure to provoke an outbreak of violence at some point.”
Bonner concludes that the attendees may be doing well for themselves, but not much good for anyone else.
The ICEG’s goals bear a certain resemblance to those of large, slow-moving bureaucracies and corporations whose accomplishments tend to be overshadowed by the rhetoric of the goals themselves.
For instance the organization states that its goals are to promote such things as “Capacity Building,” “Leadership,” “Innovation,” and “A global Perspective.”
Capacity building would come about by “improving the technical and analytical policy research capacity of think .......................Full Article www.FreeMarketNews.com
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