Former Chairperson African Group of Governors, World Bank, and International Monetary Fund
Although 5.7 trillion United States dollars have been spent as foreign aid since 1960, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is saying that it does not know the impact of foreign aid on poverty generation. But the French economist Thomas Piketty has published an internationally acclaimed book, Capital and Ideology, indicating that there is growing income inequality within countries and between countries (Harvard University Press, 2022).
The fact of the matter is that the World Bank, the IMF, and other international financial entities know about the Truth as published in the book of Professor Piketty, but the Truth does not serve their profit-driven motive, and this is the reason for not accepting the Truth. Whenever the World Bank or the IMF gives any entity any amount of money, the World Bank or the IMF does so because each of them expects to make profits out of what each entity gives out.
At the local level, the powers are money-driven, promote the flow of foreign aid and talk about its effectiveness. However, the truth remains in what the economist has published in his book Capital and Ideology. The Truth is also published elsewhere, like in this Commentary and precious ones. Just looking at the data in Liberia alone, one finds that before 1960, less than one percent of the people of Liberia had access to more than sixty percent of the income and wealth of Liberia (Robert Clower et al., Growth Without Development, Northwestern University Press, 1966).
This is the poverty generation system in operation in Liberia and in other economies that the French economist Piketty speaks about. In Liberia, National Legislators have access to at least LD200,000 a day, and their foreign business partners have access to at least LD300,000,000 a day, while almost all the people of Liberia have access to at most less than LD300 a day (The Annual Reports of the CBL, LISGIS, MFDP. MCI. WB, IMF, ADB, and UNDP).
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Well, so far, this commentary has talked about the problem related to knowing about the impact of foreigners on poverty generation. Still, the solution to the problem has not been presented. The solution to the problem is in raising awareness through the Rule of Law to motivate the people to take actions that transform the unfair prevailing electoral system into a fair, enduring electoral system. It is only through this transformation that persons with good records can get elected to bring in the system of Justice, the ingredient for Peace and Poverty Alleviation in Liberia and in any other country.
