This needs some explanation. I'm doing an online module of study on economic development, part of which is internet discussion with my fellow-students. And part of the marking is to provide personal reflections on the discussions. These make up the first seven sonnets; but economists don't have real answers; so I went on afterwards to the eighth sonnet.
On The Advantages of the Developed Nations
First movers in industrialisation
Gained a first step towards imperialism,
And while most states have outward liberation
They’re held in thrall to neoliberalism;
Resources were available, which first
Allowed the wealth the north can now attain,
But all development entails a thirst
For energy which Earth cannot sustain.
We thought of inequalities in nations,
And India and China’s new advance.
And current change in women’s situations,
Though I had doubts about its relevance.
I wondered how advances in technology
Impinged on nations’ ruling ideology.
On Developing and Measuring Development
While we could all accept that GDP
Is not a useful measure of advancement
We found it rather harder to agree
Alternatives: each measure needs enhancement.
It was proposed each nation should decide
Which let me tell my comrade in Bhutan
They measure happiness – which won’t provide
An answer to the woes the north began.
We thought of global warming to produce
Grief in the south, which cannot be denied;
And rightwing thinking which will not reduce
Our inequalities – and never tried.
While I was sad that if you plant a tree
It has no impact on your GDP.
On Traditional Theories of Development
Economists have their creation myth:
That markets, through a hand that is invisible
Work best for all, or so thought Adam Smith,
Which most think true , but which Marx thought was risible.
Using competitive advantages we all thus
Ricardo thought, live where world trading boomed,
But all was limited thought Thomas Malthus
Since population growth means we're all doomed.
It's all old hat, thinks Sean, while Hannah's found
Positives lacking. Kayley thinks that Keynes
Is useful still, and Neo-Keynesianism sound
When government in wisdom intervenes.
The way I'd set things out seemed satisfying
To David Skene, which I found gratifying.
On Dependency Theory
Next week we were confronted with a query
And I must squeeze thought on it in a minute,
About the value of dependency theory
And I concluded – yeah, there’s something in it.
Although the nations of the south are free
They’re bound to give the north its interest,
While I would ask us all to what degree
They have internalised, ‘the west is best’.
Colonialism stole the south’s resources
And keeps them still as primary producers;
Was this designed? I asked, and, What recourses
Extracted Asia from its seducers?
As metaphor Pat showed a trafficker
Has dumped our useless clothes on Africa.
On the Role of International Institutions
The role of international institutions
Which were set up at Bretton Woods
Is marred, I showed, because their constitutions,
While set up maybe for our common goods,
Lacked in legitimate democracy.
The US has a veto on decisions,
And with its prevalent hypocrisy
Is likely to resist the south’s revisions.
To whom, asked Clare, are they accountable?
Examples of corruption have been found.
Is their attacks on human rights surmountable?
Will they let fossil fuels stay in the ground?
And for how long will the world bank be loath
To think there is another way than growth?
On Endogenous Growth Theory
Endogenous Growth Theory foxed us next,
Perhaps because parts were too obvious.
With thought about it we were less perplexed:
Some institutions may be noxious;
By sorting that, enhancing education,
And using new technology growth grows.
Yet much harks back to Smith’s specialisation:
How much has man advanced in what he know?
But what if growth is not what we desire?
Kayley suggests our turbines might be taller
As our advanced technologies require
Less land and thus their footprint will be smaller.
Tharoor hails, in one book he has compiled,
“The education of the female child”.
On The Role of the State
We started with the British constitution,
Sean designated as “uncodified”,
Which came through parliamentary evolution.
Ros thought codification should be tried
So that all know responsibilities and rights.
The fact one could hold governments in check
Is a development which Lindy cites,
Though changes may become a bottleneck.
Most liked the one I showed from Ecuador,
Especially the section about food;
But courts are one thing we must reckon for
If aims of constitutions are not good.
So Swiss may readily change the agenda
In one of their persistent referenda.
On the Answer to It All
Searching the world for principles and laws
Economists have scanned economies
But their conclusions were unsure because
They only reached to externalities.
Sometimes they helped external human need
But could not solve the need that is within;
They could not cure the root of human greed,
Because the root of human greed is sin.
God came in Christ to deal with sin and sins,
And in His grace to souls the Saviour died;
The only hope for human hearts begins
Because God’s Christ is raised and glorified.
The present worries, and the future’s grim
Unless we have our faith and hope in Him.
