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If you ever took an economics class you probably learnt a lot about subsidies, tariffs and quotas and drew dorky supply-demand charts to show the theoretical impact of these on consumers, producers and the economy. But few of us were ever told stories about the actual effect of subsidies, tariffs and things like that, on real people.
Well, now may be a good time to find out.
I have been closely following the current debate in the U.S. Congress over government programs that have been assisting farmers in America for years. If you watch C-Span sometimes, then you probably have been too.
Here are some facts:
The U.S. government’s farm subsidy program (i.e. financial support to farmers in America) in effect deny millions of people in poor countries a chance to survive in the global economy. U.S. farm policies have been around since the Depression era when farmers really did need the help. But due to sheer government negligence in upgrading policies for changing times, as well as due to the power of some fierce agricultural lobbies, these subsidies have remained to this day.
So how do they affect people in poor countries? Read the rest of this entry »
Some years ago, the U.S. government started a hodge podge of initiatives to bring about democracy in the Muslim world. Several of these initiatives were collectively known as the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI).
MEPI’s objectives included reform of the education systems in Muslim countries in ways that would help produce democratic / progressive leaders and tolerant societies. But the programs have not been on a perfect track thus far.
In my opinion, the original idea of investing in progressive education systems in Muslim countries is not assailable. There are indeed schools in Muslim countries that teach the opposite of tolerance and subject kids to rote learning.
To its credit the MEPI programs have funded such things as girls’ education, helped provide books to schools that needed them, and started some vocational training programs. But many of the MEPI programs focus on such ethereal things as digital classrooms in relatively poor countries, or student exchange programs, while overlooking more thoughtful initiatives that could get to the heart of the issues: unfavorable economics, a.k.a. poverty, paltry government investment in schools with progressive curricula, or in schools in general.
Key problems with education systems in Muslim countries lie with the rarity of quality public education and the popularity of Saudi-funded Wahhabi madrassas in places like Pakistan, Bangladesh and Indonesia.
It is worrying that several thousand madrassas in these countries teach rigid and extremist brands of Islam to kids between 5 and 21. While madrassas may not always graduate terrorists, many do graduate pupils who empathize with acts of terror. In political and social arenas of Muslim countries too, there is a stark divergence of views of modernists and Islamists.
The education systems in Muslim countries, as well as the problems with them, are similar. Public schools tend to offer unmotivated instructors, disorganized curricula and poor educational materials. Private schools, modeled after colonial era institutions have slightly better standards, but cater mostly to moneyed classes. In the meantime, madrassas are a cheap or free alternative–most even offer free room and board–and the strict educational leadership of zealous clerics often gives the appearance of structure and organization.
U.S. efforts, instead of relying solely on book donations, wired classrooms and exchange programs should look for smarter ways to reform education. They could focus first on building trust and collaborating with reform-minded local citizens and educators to demand far-reaching curricular reforms that promote exploratory learning.
Also needed is big money to expand the availability of public education in remote, rural areas, combined with a push to get governments to commit more resources and funding to public education. There should be greater push for accountability so that no institution is allowed to operate without licenses, and minimum standards for teaching certification must be set for instructors.
Overarching efforts, though, should focus on addressing poverty in ways that don’t necessarily involve sweeping changes. For example, one great way to go could be to expand school lunch programs in existing public schools, e.g. check out the McGovern-Dole program.
For interested U.S. citizens, a campaign for McGovern Dole is in full swing and a vote is coming up soon in Congress.
Bangladesh has come a long way from being perceived as what Henry Kissinger infamously called a “basket case” in the 70s. The past decade has seen stunning economic growth rates of around 5 percent—this in spite of continuous political instability and economic disruptions because of it.
Accompanied by this growth has been an expansion of the urban middle class. The Bangladeshi middle class accounts for about 9 percent of the country’s population, still low compared to Pakistan’s 18 percent and India’s 30 percent, but growing.
Anyone who has recently been to Dhaka, the Bangladeshi capital, has come back raving about the new restaurants, coffee shops, malls representing new ways for the middle class to spend moolah.
A brand new shopping mall: Boshundhora City
About five years ago, a brand new theme park opened. ”Fantasy Kingdom” answered the prayers of urban kids with an urge to ride roller coasters and bumper cars superior to those found at “Shishu Park” where I have several baby pictures with my cousins. Some criticized the idea of a shiny new theme park when so many problems still plague a country where so many children still beg on the streets.
Yes, inequality in Bangladesh is still stark and most people still earn a bit less per day than the entry fee at Fantasy Kingdom. But the steady growth of the middle class can be a boon for Bangladesh if managed in the right way. This is if (with a capital “I” and capital “F”) governance improves, greater investment in the economy is allowed, taxes are actually collected, and the money is actually used to make smart investments to lift the poor.
But, regardless of this exhaustive list of things that the government could be doing with the golden economic egg, the chicken has already hatched. The question is which way the chicken will bolt.
Some trends have led us to hope. The growing middle class has already led to greater civil society participation. Impressively, the middle has shown itself to be increasingly vocal about political matters and brazen about challenging the government.
For the Club of the Optimistic (of which I am a member) these happenings could mean greater evolution and effectiveness of Bangladesh’s political institutions and in turn its economic institutions. A large enough middle class could also eventually mean more checks on the abuse of political power by the affluent, as well as more support for public investment in education, health and roads.
But I remind myself that in order for any of this to happen, the middle has to play fair too. First, it has to continue to stay socially and politically aware and active. Second it has put an end to inveterate practices that still continue and serve to shut out the many at the expense of a few: e.g. bribing everyone from politicians to school headmasters to healthcare institutions to company officials.
I sincerely hope that the growing middle will rise to the occassion.
Someone recently shared with me some interesting maps of the world that play with the sizes of countries to depict social or economic conditions. So for instance, on the two maps that depict energy consumption and GDP, the size of the U.S. is shown to be much larger it actually is on a real map, whereas the poorest countries are mere dots. Bangladesh can barely be seen and Africa almost not there.
I thought I should share one of these stunning maps with you. This one shows child mortality rates and you can you see the prominent contours of our country on the Asian continent. Although I was aware that child mortality rates in Bangladesh are quite high, this portrayal was still quite stunning. (see below).
But consider that this is after Bangladesh has made substantial progress in reducing child mortality rates: from 1973 to 2003, child mortality fell by 40%. Quite impressive. Even then, Bangladesh appears fairly large on this map indicating that we have a ways to go. Every year 50 out of 1,000 infants are still not making it.
One surefire way to improve is to invest more in female education. Although, we still need fundamental changes in the perception of women’s role in society, which would likely lead to less child bearing in the first place. Grameen’s efforts and other grassroots initiatives have helped in this regard, but I cannot say the same for our formerly ruling governments. Helping promote women’s voices through offering them better opportunities and highlighting their rights are fundamental ways to change stubborn national perceptions. They have fallen short on this, among other things.
Needless to say, greater recognition of women’s rights and better opportunities for women could solve problems beyond infant mortality. Hopefully, Yunus will stick to his promises about women, assuming he wins (I know, big assumption. And funny we have to rely on a man to come to the rescue on this.)
As a final note, I wonder if anyone has done any cartograms of the relative powers of women in executive positions in different countries and maps depicting widely held perceptions of the extent of women’s rights in those countries. I’d be interested to look.
There is an enviable constituency for Africa in the United States. One that is designed to mobilize attention and resources to be directed towards every major issue that plagues the continent. Whether it be the AIDS epidemic, food crisis or human rights violations, NGOs, interest groups, movie-stars and policymakers are leading the fight against them head-on.
Indeed, Africa needs all the attention and help it can get. Whereas a few African countries have made progress in the past 15 years on economic growth, debt reduction and governance, progress in others is still severely inadequate, and the West should help.
What is regrettable though is that when it comes to foreign assistance and/or policy, the U.S. focus on Africa serves to sideline some other very poor countries. Of the 50 UN-designated Least Developed Countries (LDCs), 33 are in sub-Saharan Africa. The rest are largely Asian countries, some of them small island states. Of these, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Cambodia are the more populous states with pretty incredible development challenges.
The per capita incomes in one or both of these countries are smaller Read the rest of this entry »
“Where are you frrrom??” is a common question asked of me by taxi drivers in the city. The next question that often follows: “Are you Muslim??” For some reason, this usually sends my eyes darting searchingly for their IDs, which are on display above them. This lets me know that they are Muslim.
Although by now I should be accustomed to this sort of interrogation, both the direct verbal form by cab drivers, and occasionally by restaurant waiters, as well as the indirect, visual form by airport officials when they see my last name (and right before X-tra screening), the question still jolts my senses.
Some of us, who relish living in a society organized around liberal principles do not enjoy being queried in this manner by utter strangers. Coming from acquaintances, it may be a different matter. For a while I assumed that the source of my discomfort was in the fact that there is a certain tone of judgement in the way the query is conducted. It may be relevant to note here that I don’t wear hijab.
But my unease is wrapped in some other feelings that, for a while, I couldn’t quite get to.
In his recent book about identity politics, Amartya Sen remarkably arrived at the root of these feelings. He explained how the “solitarist approach” to human identity, where individuals are seen as members of only one group, can often lead to bewilderment.
“Bewildered.” The word that most accurately describes my status in these situations.
Sen’s view is that we are happiest when the myriad identities within us are recognized. (He also goes on wonderfully about how the narrow perception and manipulation of identity can be used to instigate violence etc etc etc, but this is not a book review.)
Sen was in Washington last October. I sat in awe as he spoke about how communitarian notions of identity have sometimes corrupted policy, and diminished the scope for individual freedom. Each of his words rang true to me. They reminded me of scenes from my daily life, where at different times I wanted to be different things, but was assigned…some other identity.
Last week, in a cab somewhere between McPherson Square and Dupont Circle I found myself being pointedly asked again by the driver: “Are you Muslim?” I glanced at his dubious-looking brows in the rearview mirror for a second before replying: “Yes.”
He continued for a little while….something about our relationship with Allah and our “deen”. At that time I went from being “The Muslim Woman” to “The Woman Looking for Change in her Wallet” so I was only half-listening. When we reached our destination he turned around in his seat, looked me squarely in the eyes and concluded: “Also, please make sure you marry a Muslim man.”
When we throw on our T-shirts, we rarely ever think about all the elements of this piece of garment. Who made it? Where did it come from? If we do ever think about our T-shirts, most us think about how cool we look based on what’s scribbled across the front: “Chicago Bulls,” “I [Heart] NY,” or “Life Sucks” or “I Hate Bush.”
In the nineties, socially conscious college students often gave thought to their T-shirts. Led on by the famous (or infamous, depending on who you ask) anti-sweatshop and anti-child labor movements, they would protest outside libraries, inside student unions, and write fiery letters to Wal-Mart executives to stop buying clothes from poor countries.
By the 2000s, the crescendo over child labor and working conditions in the apparel factories of poor countries like Bangladesh seemed to have calmed down, partly because many things in America operate on a “aajke ase, kaalke nai” basis, i.e. “here today, gone tomorrow”, and partly because some apparel companies actually started paying closer attention to labor standards in order to avoid getting lampooned into oblivion. But the issue hasn’t disappeared altogether, and could come back to town any time for another party.
Throughout the protests in American colleges, throughout the political roller-coaster rides in Bangladesh, and pushing through years of economic plight, Bangladesh continued to make T-shirts. Lots of them. Thanks to our excess supply of workers who are often willing to embrace wearisome manufacturing jobs, our easy access to garment materials, pretty decent industry management, and other factors, the Bangladeshi garment industry has flourished and has gained a strong foothold in the country.
The industry now brings in billions of dollars, supplies 75 percent of our export earnings, provides the livelihoods of 2 million young women, and is generally a sunny spot in the country economy.
Yet, few people in the West want to see the Bangladeshi garment industry in this light, and chosen to forget the early economy of the United States when child labor was considered a necessity, and factory conditions weren’t exactly dandy.
Some have even launched bizarre “Buy USA” consumer campaigns, pretending that any Western country could, for a second, compete to make T-shirts with any low-wage country where throngs of hungry workers clamor for T-shirt-making jobs to avoid getting pulled into a drilling workshop or into the sex industry. Yes, we are talking about those familiar low-wage countries where people live on less than $2 a day, there is no welfare, no social safety net, and no Democrats to argue for entitlement programs.
Perhaps that is why, in spite of vigorous efforts to shield U.S. apparel-making jobs from poor countries with the help of a quota regime, the numbers of U.S. apparel workers have shrank from 1.4 million to 270,000.
We should, of course, work towards a Bangladesh where young members of families who are below 12 or 14 would no longer need to go to work, and respect for human rights would run through people’s veins. But in the meantime, those of us in the U.S. of A and other Western places who may find ourselves in casual conversations with friends on this topic, need to tell those well-intentioned friends that their efforts are much better spent persuading companies to improve factory conditions, rather than persuading them to stop buying clothes from very poor nations.
At least many of the friends I’ve spoken to, have stopped peeking at T-shirt labels before making buying decisions.
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