People and organizations seek to serve the material poor out of a good heart. However, we must be aware that good intentions are not enough. We must think through the probable results of our charitable actions and seek to avoid damaging, unintended consequences.
Population and Poverty: The Fear of Overpopulation The fear of overpopulation of the earth has a long history. English cleric Thomas Malthus first articulated the mathematical calculation that seemed to provide some scientific confirmation of people’s intuitive sense that population growth could not continue indefinitely without dire consequence. In Malthus’s formula, the growth of human … Continued
The "zero-sum game" is a Game Theory illustration of instances in which one player’s win necessitates the other player's loss; in other words, there is no such thing as a win-win scenario where both players benefit.
The term foreign aid may refer to any form of assistance that crosses national boundaries. In many policy discussions, including the following exposition, the term refers more specifically to government-to-government transfers of funds to developing nations.
Charitable giving is the voluntary, benevolent giving of goods, services or money toward perceived or real needs, needs that may or may not be addressable through business and market activity.
The combination of subsidies, tariffs, food aid, and aggressive diplomacy has wrecked havoc on farmers in the developing world.