Live 8 - G8: doing what we can in an imperfect world

Easterly isn’t even in Sachs’ index. Easterly isn’t anti-aid, but he’s very sceptical of Sachs-style “big pushes” for development. Indeed, he quotes some fine words remarkably like Sachs’. They’re from President Harry Truman in 1949. Big pushes have been tried before and have failed for the myriad reasons I’ve quoted above.

So how should we have felt as we watched those concerts on July 2? Any reading in the area will show you that the problems outlined by Easterly are tenacious - ingrained, both in the countries receiving aid and the agencies doling it out.

I for one would like to dig further into my pocket. I’ll vote for politicians offering to do it for me. And just as importantly, I’ll support politicians who support intolerance of corruption. There’s at least some evidence that we’re making progress on this score - and it’s being built into aid programs like the Bush Administration’s Millennium Challenge Account.

I know some of the aid will be wasted, as it has been in the past. And I know that saying that we can “make poverty history” is about as responsible as another promise Australians remember.

But despite the notoriety of Bob Hawke’s promise that “no child will live in poverty”, the policies behind it actually did deliver on the words of the speech from which he read - that “no child need live in poverty”. They massively helped poorer families in a world growing more unequal. They still do. No doubt some family payments go astray. But, like foreign aid, a lot gets through. It’s the best we can do in an imperfect world.

I’m sceptical of Sachs’ and Bono’s and Sir Bob G’s Big Plans and Promises. But I want to say that I do what I can. So do lots of others. Maybe you’re one of us? If we achieve a quarter of what these guys are shooting for, we’ll help 300 million people lift themselves out of extreme poverty.

All by increasing the amount we spend on aid - currently one cent in each four dollars we earn - by another two cents, or what we spend now on our pets!