HN Books @HNBooksMonth

This reminds me of the account of NGOs ( Non Governmental Organizations )- key functionaries in the dispensation of foreign aid - in Jim Rogers' book, Adventure Capitalist: The Ultimate Road Trip, something I read many many years ago:

  "Even in countries with no roads to speak of, Mercedes service is available – often
  to the exclusion of things like food – thanks to all the US foreign aid, the IMF,
  and World Bank money being shipped in.  It is no secret that this money is aimed at
  nourishing only those corrupt enough to get their hands on it, while at the same 
  time fattening the bureaucrats on both sides of the transaction who diligently 
  work the trough.  And none of them is driving a Chevy.

  I knew much of this from my last trip.  The upcoming trip, especially as it took
  us through Africa, would be an eye-opening education into the workings of the
  latest foreign aid scam: the nongovernmental organization, or NGO.  As an American
  taxpayer, I would be amazed to discover that a lot of the money we send to these 
  countries goes to support Mercedes and BMW dealers and various Swiss bankers."

  "After cocoa, the commodity produced in greatest abundance in the Ivory Coast is to
   be found in the commercial capital, Abidjan, one of the more cosmopolitan cities in
  West Africa: NGO bureaucrats.  They grow here in enormously high concentration, even
  for Africa.  They and their like have been directing Africa’s destiny for centuries. 
  One might wonder why so many national boundaries in these parts consist of straight
  lines.  In Germany in 1884, at what was called the Congress of Berlin, the European
  powers came together and divided up Africa.  They paid no attention to religious,
  ethnic, linguistic, tribal, national, or historical differences – the Ivory Coast,
  for example, is divided between a majority Muslim population in the north and those
  who hold to indigenous beliefs and Christianity in the south, explaining why peace
  in Africa may be far away.  And why there will always be work for Western
  bureaucrats." [1]

On the other hand, this is what Bill Gates has to say on corruption and why it should not be a deterrent to the continued giving of foreign aid:

  There is a double standard at work here. I’ve heard people calling on the government
  to shut down some aid program if one dollar of corruption is found. On the other 
  hand, four of the past seven governors of Illinois have gone to prison for 
  corruption, and to my knowledge no one has demanded that Illinois schools be shut down
  or its highways closed. [2]

Even fully discounting the fact that the man is unimaginably wealthy and can afford the graft and misuse of funds, I am still not quite convinced by this line of reasoning. At this point I'm just hoping that I don't wake up some eight years from now to discover that even things like Kiva loans [3] had been all along a huge waste of effort, time and - yes - money.

[1] Adventure Capitalist: The Ultimate Road Trip

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0812967267

[2] 3 MYTHS THAT BLOCK PROGRESS FOR THE POOR

http://annualletter.gatesfoundation.org/#section=myth-two

[3] Kiva Is Not Quite What It Seems

http://www.cgdev.org/blog/kiva-not-quite-what-it-seems

Karl from Conversion Rate Experts here.

We had Jacques, "The Jim Rogers of Tech," (http://www.amazon.com/Adventure-Capitalist-Ultimate-Road-Tri...) for a highly enjoyable two days.

We found him to be intense (on the first day we talked constantly till 9:00 p.m.), wise (he has worked on loads of fascinating projects), trustworthy (he works with many companies at a very high level) and fascinated about everything (he spent five minutes trying to work out how our staircase was made).

We showed Jacques a list of all our challenges and problems, and then for two days we worked through it, asking him for his ideas, resources he knows, etc.. We came away with several pages of useful notes. Since then, he has contacted us several times with further insights he has had.

If you ever get a chance to work with him, I'd highly recommend it.