what do you think of when i say justice and global development many of you may immediately think of the disparity and wealth seen across the world when we think about alleviating suffering and increasing standards of living most of us immediately think about improving economic conditions and helping people get out of poverty it's true that money doesn't buy happiness but it's hard to imagine anyone not wanting to decrease infant mortality rates unemployment hunger or disease or to improve education longevity and overall health and security these outcomes are all affected by countries level of wealth additionally for
christians we have a biblical mandate to help the poor and to pursue justice for the oppressed proverbs 31 8 says speak up for those who cannot speak up for themselves for the rights of all who are destitute and isaiah 1 17 says seek justice encourage the oppressed defend the cause of the fatherless plead the case of the widow there are a number of other verses both in the old and new testaments that highlight god's concern for people in need in his book generous justice tim keller writes that biblical justice is not limited to only righting
wrongs but it's also concerned with generosity in care for the poor and marginalized people in society importantly he notes that doing justice from a biblical perspective does not mean providing unlimited handouts or creating a situation of economic dependency much the opposite he cites scripture to support the contention that biblical justice is concerned with empowering people to reach self-sufficiency for example leviticus chapter 19 describes an israeli law in which landowners could not glean all the grain their lands produced instead they were commanded to leave some for the poor together this requirement enabled the poor to provide
for themselves but what is the best way to go about empowering the poor the oppressed and the vulnerable in a way that leads to self-sufficiency and human flourishing just as there are debates in the u.s about the best policies for remedying social issues like homelessness there are debates about how to address global poverty and inequality while this course will challenge you to think about how you can pursue justice in your own lives this lecture will specifically focus on how you can support or advocate for justice on a global scale you might not be able to
do much about poverty in zimbabwe for example but you can encourage elected officials in the u.s or your country of residence to pursue policies that will be most helpful in alleviating poverty and human suffering but before we can address how countries get out of poverty we have to consider how poor countries became poor and why they have stayed poor this lecture will address three questions first why are some countries rich and others poor in other words what explains global economic inequality second have efforts to help poor countries develop been successful has foreign aid for example
had a positive impact on recipient countries and finally what does pursuing justice and global development look like what policies should we encourage our national leaders to support on the international level let's begin by addressing our first question why are some countries rich and others poor there are several hypotheses that scholars have developed to address this question and most fail to offer convincing explanations for global poverty i'll begin by discussing the geography hypothesis this hypothesis asserts that a country's geographic position is to blame for poor growth when you look at a map of the world's poorest
countries they do seem to be centered closer to the equator those who argue for this explanation point to higher rates of disease poor soil quality natural disasters and difficult transportation costs as barriers to growth however as darren asamoglu and james robinson note in their book why nations fail these areas haven't necessarily always been poor the areas that now make up mexico central america peru and bolivia for example were once home to prosperous societies and countries in this region have seen positive growth in recent decades this hypothesis also doesn't account for why many countries farther removed
from the equator are poor such as north korea moldova or the former soviet union while tropical diseases droughts or floods and poor soil quality are all obstacles to growth they are not prohibitive let's turn now to a second hypothesis that also leaves a lot to be desired the cultural hypothesis this hypothesis argues that certain cultures are more conducive to growth than others max weber argued this about the protestant tradition in his book the protestant ethic and spirit of capitalism he suggested that the calvinist belief in predestination motivated industriousness that led to capitalist growth this theory
is pretty easy to critique we see societies with similar cultures and vastly different levels of wealth north and south korea provide a good example asamoglu and robinson point out that cultural norms and values may shape certain aspects of society related to economic growth for example seniority based versus egalitarian corporate cultures but these differences are not enough to provide a convincing explanation for the variations seen around the world let's move on to discuss the ignorance hypothesis this argues that leaders and the economists they consult do not know how to move poor countries out of poverty certainly
many economic decisions have been made out of ignorance but more often the leaders making poor economic decisions have some reason for doing so asamoglu and robinson provide the example of a mango canning plant that was located in a part of ghana that did not grow mangoes the country's leader had received advice that this was a terrible use of resources but his poor economic decisions made for good politics as he could please his political supporters our next hypothesis gets us a little closer to a sound explanation for global inequality but not all the way this hypothesis
looks the legacy of colonialism as an explanation for poverty but you may have already spotted a problem with this one the u.s used to be a colony so did canada and australia and some poor countries were never colonies such as ethiopia or iran a history of colonialism matters for growth today largely through how its legacy affected the trajectory of a country's political and economic institutions institutions can be defined simply as the rules of the game who has political power who can participate in the marketplace and how who has power to change the rules and what
does that process look like political institutions create economic incentives that encourage investment and growth the rule of law is especially important as it relates to protection of property rights prevention of arbitrary rules that might expropriate profits or disadvantaged competitors and investment securities such as upholding contracts think about how little incentive you would have to invest your life savings which your family depended on to eat to open a business for example if you did not know if the person you leased the building from would turn over the keys to you or if you didn't trust the
insurance company to pay out in the event of fire or if you didn't have the option to purchase insurance at all think about how much less incentive you would have to work hard to make money if the government could declare that your profits were the property of the state or if your politically connected competitors could get rules rewritten to seize your assets or drive you out of business it is also important for political institutions to be set up in a way that encourages accountability this ensures that government resources are used in a way that promotes
growth government resources should at a minimum go to providing physical infrastructure like roads ports rail lines and electricity grids that facilitate commerce other public services especially those that promote safety and health are also critical who would want to invest time and energy in opening a business if it stands to get robbed or looted frequently even if it's insured it's not worth the energy pluralistic political institutions where most people have the ability to freely and fairly elect and potentially recall representatives is important for accountability and an independent judiciary is crucial for not only enforcing property rights
or contracts but also ensuring those with power do not abuse it to favor themselves or their supporters so returning to the topic of colonialism how did some former colonies develop pluralistic institutions that incentivized growth while others did not in a paper with simon johnson asimoglu and robinson provide evidence that where european settlers could easily live measured by subtler death rates they set up institutions that enforced the rule of law and encouraged investment where death rates were high and settlers could not easily live the colonizing country engaged in predatory policies that were not meant to encourage
economic growth or investment these policies were largely aimed at taking away as much wealth as possible from the colony without a focus on longer-term growth so a history of colonialism matters and that it affected early institutions that led toward growth or poverty but most countries in latin america have been independent for 200 years and most african countries have been independent for 50 or 60 years why have these areas with a history of extractive colonial policies not establish the institutions necessary for growth it comes down to leaders trying to hold on to political power pluralism challenges
this hold and establishing inclusive economic institutions requires giving up some control out over the allocation of resources so now that we have a picture of why countries are poor what next how can concerned citizens leaders or activists encourage movement out of poverty let's review ways people have tried to assist poor countries and assess their effectiveness first let's discuss aid astronomical sums of money have been given to poor countries over the last half century in an effort to encourage growth i could say a lot about foreign aid but in short it doesn't seem to work note
that i'm not talking about humanitarian aid which is aids sent to alleviate suffering in the wake of a crisis i'm speaking about developmental aid which is often sent with the purpose of encouraging growth for more on aid and its effects in african countries specifically i encourage you to watch this interview with with economist dembi simoyo she discusses her book dead aid in which she calls for a reduction in aids so that african governments can become self-sufficient and she notes the troubling connection between aid and corrupt leaders in essence aid can serve to prop up ineffective
and even repressive leaders when they co-opt to aid money for personal use foreign loans are similar loans from private banks or intergovernmental organizations may not be used productively and those with high interest rates may saddle the country with untenable debt obligations the leaders can either default or implement austerity measures to address the debt both of which affect average citizens through currency devaluation higher taxes or restriction of social services and these loans can also be used by corrupt leaders to increase their personal wealth another way in which concerned citizens leaders or activists have suggested helping poor
countries develop is by changing what are seen as unfair international trading practices for example many poor countries that open their economies up to the global market want to export primary products like grain cotton or corn however developed countries like the us often subsidize these industries which creates more competition for poor countries on the global market giving poor countries more voting power in international economic institutions and removing subsidies for primary products in rich countries may help poor countries grow but it's unlikely to be very impactful if domestic institutions remain extractive the poor country's leaders could still
expropriate any additional funds and use them per personal gain many scholars and activists have encouraged democratization as a path toward economic growth however while free and fair elections are an important inclusive political feature for prosperity democracy alone is not enough majorities are not always wise when it comes to economics officials elected and supported by the majority may still nationalize property or change economic rules to favor the majority over the minority the rule of law and protection of property rights are essential and this is best secured through an independent court system free of political influence we've
discussed why countries are poor and we've briefly assessed the effectiveness of policies designed to aid these countries now let's turn to our third and final question what does pursuing justice and global development look like in other words what policies should we encourage our national leaders to support on the international level the bible calls unbelievers to take care of the poor and vulnerable not just fellow believers either but anyone we encounter regardless of nationality race or religion it may seem contradictory then to suggest limiting aid to poor countries in generous justice tim keller notes that doing
justice is caring for the poor and vulnerable but it should be done in a way that encourages empowerment and self-sufficiency not dependency unfortunately as dembisa moyo discusses in the case of african countries a foreign aid has seemed to fail at this keller argues that the bible does not say we are only to give to responsible people who use money wisely but neither does it call on us to create dependency or enable poor habits leaders of poor countries are not unaware of what leads to economic growth as might be the case of poor individuals who lack
insight or the ability to make wise financial decisions so limiting development aid and ensuring accountability over any aid flows does not appear inconsistent with our biblical mandate to care for the poor some institutions like the world bank attempt to provide low or no interest loans for the world's poorest countries for specific development projects we can encourage our leaders to support these kinds of global efforts with sufficient oversight to ensure the funds are used productively and for the general welfare and it's worth mentioning again that humanitarian aid to relieve suffering in the wake of a crisis
is a different matter altogether this form of aid is often critical for preventing loss of life immediately after a natural disaster and is hopefully generously provided where most needed instead of encouraging our elected officials to support more aid money which doesn't seem effective we can instead encourage greater integration into the world market and fair trade practices that benefit poor countries one tangible policy change that may assist for countries is to limit subsidies for primary products in the us and other developed nations that unfairly increase global competition for poor countries who rely more heavily on money
from these exports we can also encourage foreign direct investment which exports knowledge and capital from developed to developing countries while also creating jobs and investing in local markets and infrastructure fdi is not without controversy though and we as consumers can hold domestic companies doing business abroad accountable for paying fair wages consistent with the local economy caring for the local community and its environment and maintaining fair labor practices even if the host country does not require these but integration into the global economy and fair trade practices may not be enough to lift countries out of poverty
without changes to rules and practices at home lastly and most importantly we can encourage our leaders to support institutional changes in poor countries diplomatic pressure and political assistance toward democracy and greater political freedom is a great start but institutions must be set up that ensure the majority doesn't establish rules that disadvantage the minority to quote ludwig von mises in his book omnipotent government quote majorities are no less exposed to error and frustration than kings and dictators that effect is deemed true by the majority does not prove its truth that a policy is deemed expedient by
the majority does not prove its expediency the individuals who form the majority are not gods and their joint conclusions are not necessarily godlike end quote any efforts at promoting democratization must also encourage change toward rules that protect life liberty and property the rule of law is especially important here without it people will not have confidence that their investments will be protected or that they will be able to keep the fruits of their labor the rule of law also keeps political leaders accountable and limits their ability to abuse power for their own gain having confidence that
a political leader or their supporters cannot expropriate your profits or change the rules to disadvantage you encourages both investment and innovation to wrap up let's review our three key questions first what explains the economic inequalities seen across the world we reviewed popular explanations for poverty and discussed how institutional differences offer the best explanation second how effective have efforts been to eradicate poverty foreign aid and loans have not done much good and even though integration into the world market and fair trade practices will help growth it's unlikely to be helpful to the average citizen if domestic
institutions don't change finally how do we pursue justice in global development as a christian how then shall i live evidence suggests that inclusive political and economic institutions are fundamental for growth and to ensure the greatest benefits to the greatest number of people they allow individuals to flourish rather than being dependent where these inclusive institutions fail to provide for those most vulnerable we as believers are called to love those neighbors as ourselves and to carry their burdens as our own what i hope you take away from this lecture is that doing justice may not be as
simple as funneling money toward a problem and money is not necessarily how the bible calls us to care for others relationships are important although that's difficult when we're considering global poverty for those of us who are not able to travel and invest our energies forming relationships with the poor and vulnerable abroad i hope this lecture has provided some tangible ideas for how to advocate for justice in global development if we consider justice to be giving people their rights then i hope you will champion people's rights to political and economic pursuits that empower them and lead
to self-sufficiency and personal flourishing thank you for watching
