The issue of rich and poor countries by Easterly Essay

While Sachs wants to help the lives of the people by giving aid, Easterly believes we should help the developing country at it's core, the government's. He argues that we should understand not just what and why we are giving our own resources to but to whom. Our goal as the 'richer' country to have an obligation is to aim on transforming the government. "The world's twenty-five most corrupt countries got $9.4 billion in foreign aid in 2002"(Easterly 133). Now it is not just as simple to assume that the rich countries are not in poverty while the poor are because they are not wealthy enough, it is the ordeal of the government. To lack a sound bases is what leads to corruption and manipulation of wealth preventing for economic growth. "Steve Knack of the World Bank find that higher aid worsens bureaucratic quality and leads to violation of the law with more impunity and to more corruption"(Easterly 136). Now, not to confuse the idea that poverty is what leads to a bad government, it is that by being an indigenous country gives aim for foreign aid, Which foreign aid can worsen an already corrupt government.
Easterly argues on Sachs statement about the poverty trap. These two authors approach overseas aid in two different ways.Sachs takes the top-bottom approach, while Easterly takes on the bottom-top. The top-down approach is to plan a goal on what is already existing, for instance Sachs mentions the Millennium project. This project is to achieve a certain set of goals by a time for individuals in developing countries. It's aim is to extinguish extreme poverty, achieve education and equality, sanitation, and to overall, not only improve, but to ensure the stability of the people's health/life. "To meet these needs for an entire population requires a decade or more of investments in physical and human capital" (Sachs 293). This is what Easterly argues in The White Man's Burden. He argues that this overarching goal will not suffice do to the fact of not having enough time. As well as these goals will be achieved is the recipient themselves are willingly agreed on terms, and accepts the aid. s follow through because the poor countries are not agreed on terms of receiving, or it is far too difficult to salvage up the proper amount of resources. For the top-down approach, a Planner believes they have the key in hand and all it needs to happen is to execute the carefully laid out plan to end poverty. On the opposite spectrum, the bottom-top approach from Easterly is arguing the exact opposite of Sachs approach. "A Searcher hopes to find the answer to individual problems only by trial and error experimentation"(Easterly 6). Unlike a Planner, of focusing on the overall goal of diminishing poverty, a Searcher has a goal to make specific task work. "Poor people die not only because of the world's indifference to their poverty, but also because of ineffective efforts by those who care" (Easterly 7).