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July 6, 2009
Does personal liberty cause development?
In Fourth of July Edition, Aid Watch says:
“Created equal” is a principle yet to be accepted in most of the world, which perhaps has a lot to do with why most of the world is still not developed. Inequality of rights between elites and majorities, between ethnic and religious groups, between men and women is pervasive. But perhaps we can hope that this ideal still serves as a beacon that crusaders continue to cite in their ongoing struggle for the dignity and rights of every man and woman.
Isn't pretty much every country on earth today richer and more developed than the USA was 233 years ago?
Per capita income in the USA in 1776 was equivalent to $919 in 1996 dollars. There were 114 countries with a higher GDP in 1996. I am skeptical that there are any countries that are as free today as America was in 1776 or at least was in 1790. The increase in personal freedom in poor countries since 1776 seems much smaller than the increase in their life expectancies and and wealth. I hope to one day live in a world where every man can be free, but I skeptical that that freedom will cause development. It seems that the same institutions that make equality before the law it and limited government possible also make development possible.
Posted by OneEyedMan at July 6, 2009 9:57 AM
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