The NYTimes has an excellent article on how foreign aid is often more about aiding local companies than aiding foreigners. It’s a familiar story but told with a wry look at condom production in Alabama where for decades billions of condoms have been manufactured for USAID and other programs despite the fact that costs are much lower on the world market.
A central theme in the article is the contrast between the waste of foreign aid dollars and the plight of the poor, low-skilled workers who make the US condoms. Here, however, is a way to square the circle. The US plant typically produces about 450 million condoms a year at a cost of 5 cents each. Condoms could be bought on the world market at 2 cents each so if the plant shuts down USAID can save $13.5 million dollars a year. The US plant employs 260 people so every one of those employees could be paid a one-time quitting bonus of $51,923, equivalent to several years of salary of the lowest paid workers. USAID would be indifferent in year one and would have more to spend on foreign aid in every subsequent year. My bet is that the workers would jump at the chance to be bought out. So there you have it, that’s how you use a condom optimally.
Wasn’t this what the Marshall Plan was about to some extent too, with
farmers substituted for local companies?
The optimal use of a condom involves a fake name.
I wonder why we didn’t learn that in sex-ed?
This is a common problem in International Aid. If you used a fair bidding process you would be able to provide more supplies that can reach more people. However if you do not go with the more expensive domestic supplier, which will result in less supplies that can be purchased, you won’t have the money to purchase anything at all, because your budget will be blocked by some politician trying to manipulate the process to prop up his local district (sigh).
What to do†¦.? Well as long as you are allowed to add riders to budget expenditures and funding can be blocked for these reasons nothing will change. From the point of view of politicians, if they have the ability to help your district then it is your job to do so. I see this as logical from their point of view. The solution is to change the rules of how budgets are made and you will not have this situation, but that is far easier said than done.
I also see the point that many Americas are hesitant to support foreign, because they do not see it as being used to accomplish any meaningful goals, if anything they see it as being wasted due to corruption in foreign countries. I disagree that Americans would support foreign aid more if they can get some financial benefit out of it, I don’t believe most Americans see they get any financial benefit out of it now. One of the problems is that most politicians or bureaucrats involved in foreign aid are not very good at explaining the extremely complex global bureaucracy that goes into allocating aid funds, and this is way before any foreign nations are involved. They also get little news about successful programs or the complexity of issues on the ground. The typical attention span of the average American vote is the 10 second sound bites, and that is just not efficient at explaining this.
I have degrees in this and have been reading about these issues for some years now and I still have problems unraveling the complexity of some of these issues. (sigh X2).
joan – They’re not too expensive (click link for amazon prices).
With the amount of mark-up on the price, why can’t the factory sell inside the US. At a 5 cent production cost there seems to be room for profit. Is there something I am not getting here???
so, could a person start a business by importing
inexpensive, Asian-made condoms, and selling them
at a 100% mark-up to USAid (or companies that have
existing contracts with USAid)? It would seem to be
highly profitable and nearly costless…
DK makes the salient point about rents to capital – surprised that Alex missed such an obvious flaw in his analysis.
And Alex – don’t you have someone who monitors the posts? See Fred above.
“Rents to capital” is an economic oxymoron. The return to capital is interest. Rent is the return to land, natural resources and government privileges. Have you even read The Wealth of Nations?!
You are all missing the point.
Where in the Constitution does it authorize the federal government to buy
condoms for people in other countries, or here for that matter?
I know, picky picky.
If guys overseas wanna get lucky let them buy their own condoms, like at
)
the machine in the truck stop bathroom. Like real men.
Was it this blog where I saw a story about condoms being used in India as decorations because they were given away so cheaply (or freely) that there wasn’t any incentive to not waste them?
Tied aid isn’t really aid at all. I’ll give you X if you promise to buy Y from me and only me. There’s a fantastic article in a Canadian magazine called The Walrus, you have to sign up but it’s worth the read. There’s nothing really new, but it’s all in one place.
Here is the article
I believe we still make our own condoms because if someone from another country made them there would be a rapid increase in abortions. When it comes to things like this I only trust the U.S. Despite the money that could be saved it would be more practical to keep things the way they are. If it’s not broken, don’t fix it.
[URL=http://bemuseglom.sitesled.com/taylorism-placeware.html ]Entropy On Altace[/URL] e77484b463 fed7bdcb5cc16b4d d7a4e2ca1a823a3c [URL=http://krukuduk.tripod.com/maui/vacation-rentals.html ]Maui Vacation Rentals[/URL]
liqingchao 07年8月21日
google排å
google排å
wow gold
wow gold
powerleveling
powerleveling
wow gold
wow gold
powerleveling
powerleveling
wow powerleveling
wow powerleveling
wow power leveling
wow power leveling
wow power level
wow power level
world of warcraft powerleveling
world of warcraft powerleveling
world of warcraft power leveling
world of warcraft power leveling
china tour
china tour
hongkong hotel
hongkong hotel
beijing tour
beijing tour
翻译公å¸
翻译公å¸
上海翻译公å¸
上海翻译公å¸
北京翻译公å¸
北京翻译公å¸
北京æ¬å®¶å…¬å¸
北京æ¬å®¶å…¬å¸
鼓风机
风机
风机
货架
光盘刻录
光盘刻录
光盘制作
光盘制作
光盘å°åˆ·
光盘å°åˆ·
红外测温仪
红外测温仪
超声波测厚仪
超声波测厚仪
超声波探伤仪
超声波探伤仪
频闪仪
频闪仪
涂层测厚仪
涂层测厚仪
电ç«èŠ±æ£€æµ‹ä»ª
电ç«èŠ±æ£€æµ‹ä»ª
google排å
仓库
仓库
仓库出租
仓库出租
物æµå›åŒº
物æµå›åŒº
集团电è¯
集团电è¯
å››çŽ¯ç´ ç‰™
å£è…”常识
å£è…”常识
å£è…”医生
å£è…”医生
网站设计
网站设计
多媒体
监控
监控
监控系统
监控系统
é—¨ç¦
é—¨ç¦
é—¨ç¦ç³»ç»Ÿ
é—¨ç¦ç³»ç»Ÿ
æ¬å®¶å…¬å¸
æ¬å®¶å…¬å¸
æ¡ç 打å°æœº
æ¡ç 打å°æœº
牙周炎
牙周炎
装饰公å¸ç”µè¯|装修公å¸ç”µè¯|装潢公å¸ç”µè¯
装饰公å¸ç”µè¯|装修公å¸ç”µè¯|装潢公å¸ç”µè¯
装饰公å¸ç”µè¯|装修公å¸ç”µè¯|装潢公å¸ç”µè¯
装饰公å¸ç”µè¯|装修公å¸ç”µè¯|装潢公å¸ç”µè¯
装饰公å¸ç”µè¯|装修公å¸ç”µè¯|装潢公å¸ç”µè¯
装饰公å¸ç”µè¯|装修公å¸ç”µè¯|装潢公å¸ç”µè¯
装饰公å¸ç”µè¯|装修公å¸ç”µè¯|装潢公å¸ç”µè¯
新房装修|新房装饰|新房装潢
新房装修|新房装饰|新房装潢
新房装修|新房装饰|新房装潢
新房装修|新房装饰|新房装潢
新房装修|新房装饰|新房装潢
新房装修|新房装饰|新房装潢
新房装修|新房装饰|新房装潢
别墅装修|别墅装饰|别墅装潢
别墅装修|别墅装饰|别墅装潢
别墅装修|别墅装饰|别墅装潢
别墅装修|别墅装饰|别墅装潢
别墅装修|别墅装饰|别墅装潢
别墅装修|别墅装饰|别墅装潢
别墅装修|别墅装饰|别墅装潢
厂房装饰|厂房装修|厂房装潢
厂房装饰|厂房装修|厂房装潢
厂房装饰|厂房装修|厂房装潢
厂房装饰|厂房装修|厂房装潢
厂房装饰|厂房装修|厂房装潢
厂房装饰|厂房装修|厂房装潢
厂房装饰|厂房装修|厂房装潢
Recruit & Employment: HomeTeleRep Wanted.
Home Telemarketing Representative
Home Telemarketing: Easy & No Cold Calls.
Job Position Number:1001
Work at your home, part time / full time — unlimited $$$ for experienced telemarketers.
†¢ Call national customers and offer them NEW products — Too Easy!
†¢ All languages: English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese … needed.
†¢ Commissions are VERY generous and uncapped.
†¢ Weekly Pay/Easy Training.
†¢ Call Now or miss out Big! Our professional agents averagely earn $15-$30 per logon hour.
The earlier you join in, the bigger market you can get!
Offered by http://www.InterTradeMart.com , one of the fast growing online stores and is becoming a main place to shop for Americans; it respects customers’ needs and privacy, provides customer complete satisfaction and fulfills their requirements. .
To apply this job position vacancy:
Web form: http://www.intertrademart.com/c_sales.asp
E-mail: jobs@InterTradeMart.com .
Postal mail: 5716 Columbia Park Rd., Cheverly, MD 20785
Fax: 301-773-8439.
It is time to change your experience to Unlimited $$$.
パワーストーン
go to one condoms.com and check out the condoms there sweet
thanks
thanks
Bvlgari Jewelry
Replica Bvlgari Jewelry
Bvlgari Replica Jewelry
Gucci Jewelry
We are professional cheap kids shoes online store .We provide Nike shoes cheap ,Nike air jordan,cheap kids clothing
cheap womens clothing,Nike shoes online store,Nike shoes cheap,Nike shoes for kids,air jordan sneakers,nike air jordan,air jordans,brand shoe,shoes brand, dropship Nike shoes , brand clothes,brand clothes ,shoes brand,cheap kids clothing for cheap wholesale Air Jordans shoes for kids & women.
was an article I liked. Thanks for sharing.
share admin thanks a lot for sharing a very successful and wonderful
Halı yıkama
Hali yikama
Hali yikama fabrikasi
Halı yıkama fabrikası
istanbul halı yıkama
basaksehir hali yikama
a significant share of your site as people think.Thanks you
I always follow your site thank you wish you continued success. Thank you.
It’s very interesting. Thanks to the author…
Everything looked in here. Immediate and clear information.
Thanks admin.
Very successful in both content and style sheets. Thanks webmaster and content editor..
asd
soo good page.. thanks admin.
Yes i like this word maining thank you
oke thanks you
Comments on this entry are closed.