The Economist - USA (2019-09-28)

18 The EconomistSeptember 28th 2019

Lettersarewelcomeandshouldbe

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Letters

Indemand

Economistshelpedshape

Americanpolicyandpublic

attitudeswellbeforethe1950s

(“Thenumbersguys”,August

31st).Thisisexemplifiedbythe

riseofnational-income

accountinginthelate1920s,

theinfluxofeconomistsinto

FranklinRoosevelt’swartime

government,theEmployment

Actof1946,whichcreatedthe

CouncilofEconomicAdvisers,

theCommitteeforEconomic

Development’sinfluential

policybooksinthe1940s,and

thesharpriseineconomics

phds inthelate1940s.Before

that,JohnCommons,the

presidentoftheAmerican

EconomicAssociation,urged

colleaguestoassistfederal

agenciesduringthefirstworld

war.TheNationalBureauof

EconomicResearch,founded

in1920,embarkedonthefirst

systematiceffortstogauge

nationalincomeandstudy

businesscycles.

andrewyarrow

Washington,DC

The land is their land

It is simplistic to blame the

collective ownership of Afro-

Colombian lands for the

poverty in Colombia’s Pacific

coast region (“No-man’s land”,

August 31st). We have evaluated

the effect of collective property

on development in the area,

comparing Afro-Colombian

communities who have col-

lective land titles with those

who have none. Collective

titling significantly reduces

extreme poverty, increases

mean household income,

improves children’s school

attendance in primary educa-

tion and promotes housing

investment.

Holding a stake in collective

property indicates to inhabit-

ants that theirs is no longer a

“no-man’s land” and motivates

investment. There are still

sizeable gaps in socio-eco-

nomic indicators between

Colombia’s Pacific and the rest

of the country, but without

collective titling the situation

would be even worse.

You further claim that the

right to prior consultation in

theregiondelaystheprovision

ofpublicgoods,again,withno

empiricalevidence.Infact,I

havenoticedtheopposite.

Duringnegotiations,commu-

nitiesdemandpublicgoods

thattheColombianstatehas

failedtoprovide.Youconclude

bypointingoutthatnotevery-

onesharesthegovernment’s

ideaof“progress”forthe

region.Here,weagree.It is

untenabletoendorsea viewof

progressthatignoreslocal

governancemerelyforthe

benefitofa fewpeople.

Indeed,thelawfrom 1993

establishingcollectiveland

titlingandtherighttoprior

consultationconstitutethe

onlynoteworthygovernment

policiesfavouringAfro-

Colombiancommunitiessince

thecountry’sabolitionof

slaveryin1851.

mariaalejandravélez

Professorofeconomics

LosAndesUniversity

Bogotá

How to help Syria

You say that the West should

offer Syria “strictly humanitar-

ian assistance” (“Assad’s

hollow victory”, September

7th). There is evidence that

humanitarian assistance to

Syria has systematically been

distributed only in areas loyal

to Bashar al-Assad. The con-

centration of unoperations in

Damascus only makes the

matter worse. Many other

conflicts that featured

extensive civilian suffering,

including the famine in Ethio-

pia during the 1980s, were

marked by the political dis-

tribution of aid, which extend-

ed the length and cost of war. It

is a morally difficult choice to

withhold assistance from

those in need, but in the case of

Mr Assad’s regime it is the

correct one, regardless of the

form of foreign assistance.

jessica trisko darden

Assistant professor of

international affairs

American University

Washington, DC

Medical infrastructure and

staff have been systematically

targeted by the Assad govern-

ment and its Russian allies in

theirbrutalstrategyofwar.We

havecorroborated 583 attacks

onatleast 350 separatehealth

facilitiesaswellasthekilling

of 912 medicalpersonnelbe-

tweenMarch2011 andAugust

2019,usinga highlyconserva-

tivemethodology.Morethan

90%oftheseattackswere

perpetratedbytheSyrian

governmentanditsallies.

Amongothereffortstoend

impunityforwarcrimesin

Syria,it isimperativethatthe

un’s investigationintosuch

attacksbeconductedwithout

delayanditsfindingsmade

public.It shouldassigncul-

pabilityfortheseheinousacts.

Hospitalsshouldnever

becomedeathtraps.

susannahsirkin

Directorofpolicy

PhysiciansforHumanRights

NewYork

Puttingcountryaboveparty

I wasdisappointedbythe

omissionofStanleyBaldwin

fromyourlistofBritishprime

ministerswhohaveheaded

governmentsofnationalunity

(“Ofgnusandotheranimals”,

August31st).Thecontrast

betweenBorisJohnsonandhis

interwarpredecessorisstark.

Baldwindevotedmuchof

hisleadershiptocombating

populistpoliticsandpowerful

pressbarons,whichheviewed

asexistentialthreatstoBrit-

ain’ssystemofparliamentary

governance.Heagreedto

participateinforminga

nationalgovernmentin 1935

ratherthantakingadvantageof

thefragmentationofother

partiesintheHouseof

Commons,believingthatall

parliamentarianshavea duty

toplacecountryoverparty.

lexray

London

Sacred scripture

Your review of Tom Holland’s

“Dominion” makes the

assertion that “the Bible is a big

and incoherent book” (“The

cross’s shadow”, August 31st).

Actually, the Bible is a

collection of scores of books, a

mixture of histories, letters,

biography, song and more. The

sense of incoherence comes

from not understanding the

contextual situation of each

book and the type of literature,

giving rise to puzzlement,

occasional strangeness and

difficulty.

Yes, people have used

verses out of context to sup-

port all kinds of monstrous

positions, but what part of

humanity has not been used

for the purposes of warped

political and social ends?

rupert higgins

Bournemouth, Dorset

China’s gay history

Chaguan reported that “only

two decades ago, officials

insisted there were no gay men

in China” and that “censors

have stepped up efforts to

shield Chinese audiences from

depictions of gay life” (Septem-

ber 7th). Xi Jinping constantly

urges his countrymen to

remember their historical and

Confucian roots. An early

emperor of the Han dynasty,

Ai, cut off the sleeve of his robe

rather than awaken his male

lover, Dong Xian, who had

fallen asleep in his arms, hence

the Chinese expression, “cut-

sleeve love.” There are indeed

gay men in China, and there

always have been.

michael arkin

Toronto

The old brigade

Bagehot described the Conser-

vative Party membership as

mostly “over 55 years old, 70%

are men, 97% are white and, as

a group, they have far more

authoritarian and Eurosceptic

views than the population at

large” (September 7th). That

seem like a pretty good de-

scription of the outgoing Euro-

pean Commission. All right,

except for the Eurosceptic bit,

but the rest of the characteris-

tics are uncannily similar.

neil wood

Aylesford, Kent