Brad DeLong's Grasping Reality
Hexapodia Is the Key Insight! By Noah Smith & Brad DeLong
PODCAST: “Hexapodia” Is þe Key Insight XXV: Afghanistan
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PODCAST: “Hexapodia” Is þe Key Insight XXV: Afghanistan

Noah Smith & Brad DeLong's 30:00 < [Length of Weekly Podcast] < 60:00
7

Key Insights:

  • The Taliban should go to the World Bank and say: “For 42 years now, mechanized, airborne, and infantry armies and air and drone forces have been driving, walking, and flying over our country, killing us. that has done enormous amounts of damage. We are absolutely dirt poor. We will try as hard as we can: please give us money so that we can start call centers, start simple labor-intensive textile factories, and also beef up our handmade rug businesses so that we can export to pay for what we so desperately need. This is our only chance to make the lives of Afghans in the villages and even in Kabul better. This government would rather rule on the basis of honest, good government and prosperity. But if we cannot do that, others in our coalition will grow in power and rule on the basis of jihad.”

  • Economics is important for governments, because it allows them to change the kind of government they are—change the relationship of the government to the people, change crazy bad governments into governments that are still bad, but much more oriented towards prosperity and stability.

  • Things are not yet at their worst. It’s like when Bart says to Homer, “this is the worst day of my life!” and Homer says, “no, this is the worst day of your life so far.”

  • Hexapodia!

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References:

  • Atif Mian: ‘The big injection of foreign money did not translate into sustainable growth. Why?…

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