Comments

Ankave tribe are still struggling to get their ILG.

It really is a fascinating topic and idea. I love reading about big ideas for big problems, even if they don’t make sense or work out in the end. I also think that there is a lot of truth in what charter city advocates say regarding externalities and immigration. But why not just do special reform zones? It may be less flashy compared to charter cities, but accomplish the same thing and at a lower cost. I wish I included that in this post. It seems that could be a really great way for the charter city idea (albeit in a more mild form) to truly work. By the way, there’s a great article on charter cities which makes comparisons to special reform zones and special economic zones here: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/EpaSZWQkAy9apupoD/intervention-report-charter-cities A long read, but really great.

It is all about numbers? I think it is also about ethics, agency, democracy, justice, power, etc I recently listened to https://ecociv.org/podcast/episode-37-bridget-mugambe/ which gives some background from an African perspective.

Thanks for the reply. I had not heard of charter cities before and I find it fascinating to think about why they fail (or not). Starting from the currently dominant economic thinking, the idea of charter cities sounds as if it should work (as argued by mainstream economists such as Romer). So if we understand well why they fail we will also understand better why our current economic system in the large fails us. And maybe also get some hints of how to change our economic system. I am interested in "radical incremental change". Radical in the sense that we need to change direction if we want to act on climate change, preserve biodiversity, and provide for the needs of everybody. Incremental because it is impossible to design a working system from scratch.

This was an interesting read! Pretty striking how PNG minimum wages and Australian minimum wages follow diametrically opposed paths. Could be interesting to look at unit labor costs which are supposed to be one of the best measures of international competitiveness.

Hi Alexander, thanks for reading. My views on charter cities have evolved a bit since this post. But still, I think the big difference is whether a foreign guarantor is involved.

This is basically to keep people as slaves. Poor people are easy to control. Hope PNG’s wake up and push for minimal wage increase. In Australia there is a period increase in minimum wage. That’s why people and community develop. PNG will continue to be underdeveloped if the minimum wage is not reviewed periodically. No one can survive on the minimum wage with the rising cost of living.

How can we control inflation our country?

One of Romer's arguments is that Charter Cities have been proven to work in China already (starting with HongKong and then other special economic zones). So what is different in your examples? Some general lessons one can learn from a comparison?

Thank you Phoebe and Karen for reminding us of what is at stake. And of the challenges that people in the Pacific face to manage their fertility, control their own bodies, their lives and futures. Let us come together to do something about it!

Thanks for the question Raphael. The "survivors" category refers to survivors of a deceased person (such as spouses, children and grandchildren). They are most common in social insurance schemes, but also exist in some social assistance schemes (e.g. non-contributory widows pensions in some South Asian countries). But the more general point here is that - in the case of Timor-Leste - we have not included veterans benefits in the charts above as it is conceived more as a form of "peace dividend" rather than fulfilling a social protection function, though there was some debate within the research team about whether to include this. The more complete underlying analysis includes a comparison with and without the veterans benefits.

Hello Yauka, I am going to throw caution to the wind and say that by itself, I do not see government at any level as a solution to anything in PNG (or the Solomon Islands). I emphasise that the two words “by itself” are at the heart of the matter. It is my observation that the governments in both these jurisdictions represent almost no one. If a common man or woman is not directly related to a politician or a public servant then almost without exception their current crop of politicians and public servants have no jurisdiction over them, their clan or their land. And since traditionally people generally don’t trust anyone not related to them genealogically the system as it stands is alien and counter intuitive to good governance. It encourages public servants, particularly those in planning and development roles to do “nothing” because they know that in a traditional sense, they don’t have the support of most of the people who fall within their service catchment area. Better to chill out, look after “wantoks” and collect their pay. If you agree with the foregoing, then the government, by itself is basically powerless, always has been and always will be. I have come to see that every decrepit school building, every nil stocked clinic, every undriveable road is in large measure a consequence of the above cultural realities. My thesis, for what it is worth is that until and unless each landowner group, clan or group of clans are included in the decision-making processes about issues that affect them or their land, there is no momentum for change. No foundation upon which to lift human development indicators, no prospect of stocked clinics, vibrant schools or maintained roads. But it’s not that simple I hear people say. I understand where they are coming from, but if communities believed that local administrators and politicians would genuinely listen to them, treat them with respect and within reason seek to facilitate mutually beneficial solutions, would we be witnessing the situation we see today? In 2016, I attended a community meeting with the late Deputy Secretary for National Health, Dr Paison Dakulala. During that meeting he was asked to speak to numerous issues relating to the absence of primary healthcare services in that locality to which he responded that under the law he was not in a position to intercede on provincial matters. He did however advise the community to approach their local government representatives and work with them for change. There was prolonged silence until one woman speaking for everyone said, the people you refer to never listen to us. And in her few words is the issue that government by itself at all levels, cannot solve. I return to my observation that communities are part of the solution and if mobilised on their terms around common goals in loose partnership with government the results can be empowering and powerful. And that until this is recognised and development resources allocated to facilitating this dynamic, we are wasting limited money and precious time.