[Leica] Dimes For Hunger

[n.wajsman at chello.nl (Nathan Wajsman)]

While I certainly admire Tina's commitment to helping the people of 
Honduras and her personal effort, I have to throw in a bit of cynicism 
here. I am sure that her work makes a real difference to the lives of 
the people directly involved and to their villages/communities. However, 
  as an economist (yes, sometimes the old mindset bubbles back up) I 
tend to look at the bigger picture. And the bigger picture is that while 
we in the rich countries with one hand give foreign aid on both 
governmental and NGO (like Tina) levels, with the other hand we are 
undermining the economies of the third world with our trade and subsidy 
policies. The most heavily subsidized and protected sectors in the US 
and Europe are precisely those in which poor countries would have an 
advantage: agriculture above all, but also light manufacturing such as 
textiles. For example, in the US sugar producers in Florida are 
subsidized and protected by high tariffs; in the European Union the 
insance Common Agricultural Policy subsidizes inefficient local 
production, and the resulting surplus is then dumped on the world 
markets, destroying trade and development possibilities for African 
countries.

So, if you *really* want to help countries like Honduras, write to your 
Congressperson/MP etc. and tell them to abolish all import duties on 
agricultural products and subsidies to domestic farmers. This would have 
a much bigger impact than any amount of foreign aid. Obviously, given 
our political systems (I am talking both sides of the Atlantic here) 
this is not likely to happen in the short term. On an individual level, 
what you can do is vote with your wallet. When you go shopping, buy 
products from those countries; also, buy things like Max Havelaar ("fair 
  trade") bananas or coffee which guarantee that a much slice of the 
money you pay in the supermarket is passed on to the ultimate 
producer/farmer in Central/South America or Africa.

Again, I wish in no way to belittle or minimize the noble effort done by 
Tina and her organization, but wanted to put a broader perspective on it.

It is amazing how quickly poor countries can become richer if their 
governments follow the right policies and if they are given the 
opportunities. I have travelled to Andalucia, the poorest part of Spain 
(along with the Extremadura) weekly for the past year. Thirty years ago 
Spain was a backwards country, ruled by an old fascist dictator, with a 
closed economy. People would look for every opportunity to emigrate to 
Northern Europe to take the menial jobs that the locals did not want 
(remember Manuel in Fawlty Towers?). Today Spain is a modern country, 
with a per capita income close to the EU average, and has become a net 
recipient of immigrants. Of course it has been lucky: Franco died in 
1975, the country went on to develop an admirable democracy, entry into 
the EU in 1982 provided large amounts of regional aid, etc. But the 
single biggest factor was access to the largest single market in the 
world, which spurred development of competitive Spanish business and the 
subsequent rise in the standard of living.

Nathan

Tina Manley wrote:

> 
> I can promise that 100% of the money will go to hunger relief programs.  
> We take nothing out for administrative costs.  Our theme this year is 
> "$1,000,000 one dime at a time" and it has made a difference in the 
> lives of many people here and in Central America.
> 
> Thanks again -
> 
> Tina
> 
> 
> Tina Manley, ASMP
> www.tinamanley.com
> 
> 
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-- 
Nathan Wajsman
Almere, The Netherlands
Mobile: +31 6 30 868 671
General photography: http://www.nathanfoto.com
Seville photography: http://www.fotosevilla.com