Dambisa Moyo: Do Developing Nations Need Dictators?

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/06/05/Uncommon_Knowledge_Dambisa_Moyo

Economist and author Dambisa Moyo defends her opinion that impoverished countries need a "decisive, benevolent dictator." She explains that she is in favor of democratic societies, but that they need to occur naturally - without external instigation.

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During the past fifty years, more than $1 trillion in development-related aid has been transferred from rich countries to Africa. Dambisa Moyo asserts, however, that this assistance has made African people no better off. "Africa's real per capita income today is lower than in the 1970s, with over half of the 700 million Africans living on less than a dollar a day."

Eschewing the "glamour aid" of celebrities such as Bob Geldof and Bono, she argues that the key to transforming African countries is to make them less reliant on foreign aid and compel them to "enforce rules of prudence and not live beyond their means." - Hoover Institute

Dambisa Moyo was born and raised in Zambia, Southern Africa. She completed a PhD in Economics at Oxford University and holds a Master's from Harvard University. She completed a Bachelor's degree in Chemistry and MBA in Finance at the American University in Washington D.C.

Moyo is a Patron for Absolute Return for Kids (ARK), a hedge fund supported children's charity. She serves on the Boards of the Lundin for Africa Foundation and Room to Read, an educational charity. Moyo argues for more innovative ways for Africa to finance development including trade with China, accessing the capital markets, and microfinance.

Peter M. Robinson is a research fellow at the Hoover Institution, where he writes about business and politics, edits Hoover's quarterly journal, the Hoover Digest, and hosts Hoover's television program, Uncommon Knowledge.

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[GunOwnerDan]

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what's for lunch."

The world doesn't need democracy, the world needs liberty and the freedoms found in our Bill Of Rights.

[Mastikator]

That's a pretty radical opinion.

Though, I gotta agree with her that "shoehorning" a democracy is simply not an option.

[GunOwnerDan]

@Pomme843

I must disagree. No part of the Bill Of Rights is outdated. In fact, the Bill Of Rights is just as important today as it has ever been.

You will find in most dictatorships citizens do not have the basic right to speak freely, there is no freedom of the press, they do not have the right to practice their own religion freely, there is no protection from unreasonable government actions.

Also, many dictatorships and totalitarian governments fear an armed citizenry so they ban guns.

[Pomme843]

@GunOwnerDan Depends on whether the dictator respects those rights. The fact that most dictators are assholes doesn't mean that a dictator necessarily must disregard such rights. And don't tell me the American Bill of Rights doesn't bare weaknesses. Some of its Amendments are... disputable. And culture specific. Contingent upon the history of America pre-USA.

[GunOwnerDan]

@Pomme843

Read the Bill Of Rights and then tell me if it's compatible with a dictatorship.

[Pomme843]

@GunOwnerDan Or, dictatorship, apparently. Don't know whether you find these compatible.

[luizcadu]

Many dictatorships improved social indicators and/or generated economic growth, at least in their first years. Cuba, the Soviet Union, The Asian Tigers, even Italy under Mussolini and Chile under Pinochet. The problem is that every dictatorship is a risk, it can completely backfire (Idi Amin, Papa Doc, Pol Pot) and even if it succeeds in the first years, or in the first decade, dictators can get corrupt, attached to the power or lead countries to wars, and everything it gained starts to ruin.

[gabriel82030]

Yes, what about the dictators of Eritrea and Ethiopia? Are they running their economies properly? The latter is known to be a professional beggar and is heavily dependent on aid and has been so since the terrible era of famine 1984 while the former is a young nation that has been harping on the string for self-dependancy if you like. Please comment on this.

[MondoBeno]

She could be right. Ataturk was a dictator, but would Democracy have worked for Turkay in the 1920's? It barely worked in Britain and France, and didn't ork in Germany.

[nchip]

When you are wake up every morning hungry, you will sell your vote for some corrupt "leader". For the poor people, democracy is a luxury that can be sacrificed for food. A country needs a big middle class before democracy works.