Anyone who follows the development debate should check out Alan Beattie’s masterly review essay – unusually for the FT, no subscription seems to be required. He begins with a cornucopia of possibilities:
New plans to save the world enter a crowded field. Any fresh look at aid, trade, poverty and Africa will jostle for attention with the sweeping generalisations and soaring hubris of politicians and celebrities suggesting that the way to prosperity for developing countries is already known, and that only the will - expressed through ever more foreign aid - is needed.
And ends with none:
I have no idea. I'm not a farmer. I'm not a businessman. I have never lived in Africa. How would I know?
Read the whole thing.
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