HomeUploadUpload DirectHotlinkRandomAbouttheme toggle
Expand

Stossel: Lessons From Africa

Views:787
@ReasonVids

Regulations are keeping Africa poor.

---------
Subscribe to our YouTube channel: http://youtube.com/reasontv
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Reason.Magazine.
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/reason
Subscribe to our podcast at iTunes: https://goo.gl/az3a7a

Reason is the planet's leading source of news, politics, and culture from a libertarian perspective. Go to reason.com for a point of view you won't get from legacy media and old left-right opinion magazines.
---------

More than half of the world's poorest people live in sub-Saharan Africa.

Why is that region so poor? There are lots of theories. Some blame a colonial history. Others blame the weather, or discrimination.

Magatte Wade, an African entrepreneur, tells John Stossel that she knows the biggest reason from her own first-hand experience: It's crushing government regulation.

"Once you hire someone, good luck getting rid of them for any reason," she says. Her home country, Senegal, requires government permission to fire an employee. That makes it hard to run a business. It also makes entrepreneurs reluctant to hire.

Then there's the complicated tax code.

"Some people say it's worth at least two or three truckloads of paper," she says. Hiring an accountant to wade through that is expensive for new businesses.

Magatte started a business anyway—she makes lip balm. She has to import several ingredients that are not made in Senegal.

"Some of them have a 70 percent import tariff on them!" Wade complains.

High taxes and complex rules often lead to corruption, because people pay bribes to get around the rules. Wade says corruption "a natural consequence of stupid senseless idiot laws….The only way to fix corruption is to simplify."

Wade's business survives without corruption, she says. One reason is that she was fortunate to find a bureaucrat who helped her find a way around the ruinous tariffs.

"We found a clause in one of the binders saying actually if you're exporting at least 80 percent of your products and if you've been in business for two years then you can ask for an exemption," she said.

Well-meaning Westerners often try to help Africa with aid. Tom's Shoes gives a pair of shoes to someone in the developing world for every pair customers buy. But Wade points out that such donations destroy local African shoemakers.

Instead of aid, she says, demand that rules be cut. That would create jobs.

"If I have a job then, guess what?" Wade asks. "My malnutrition problem goes poof! My uneven access to clean water goes poof. It's just poof, poof, poof!

"Create greater economic freedom…in all countries," Wade concludes. "So that all people everywhere get a chance to experience free enterprise."

The views expressed in this video are solely those of John Stossel; his independent production company, Stossel Productions; and the people he interviews. The claims and opinions set forth in the video and accompanying text are not necessarily those of Reason.

libertarian
,
reason magazine
,
reason.com
,
reason.tv
,
reasontv
,
africa
,
john stossel
,
free markets
,
poverty
,
corruption
,
bureaucracy
,
red tape
,
toms
,
shoe
,
skin is skin
,
magatte wade
    Thumbnail for Corporations and the First Amendment: Free Speech Rules (Episode 6)4:53
    Corporations and the First Amendment: Free Speech Rules (Episode 6)
    ReasonVids
    1042 views
    Thumbnail for Important message to r9k3:09
    Important message to r9k
    EricaPolarBear.Archive
    284 views
    Thumbnail for Charles Nichols Challenges California's Open Carry Ban6:15
    Charles Nichols Challenges California's Open Carry Ban
    ReasonVids
    929 views
    Thumbnail for 3 Myths About American Decline4:44
    3 Myths About American Decline
    ReasonVids
    1209 views
    Thumbnail for Doxing @GreenSaint0:07
    Doxing @GreenSaint
    bestofupgoat
    149 views
    Thumbnail for This Samsung Screen Should Be Discontinued... #Shorts | Phone Repair Guru0:27
    This Samsung Screen Should Be Discontinued... #Shorts | Phone Repair Guru
    invidious
    144 views
    Thumbnail for The 739620:46
    The 73962
    AOUisgay
    616 views
    Thumbnail for Hitting with dad just got a lot easier 🤣 (via @derekradley/IG) | ESPN0:10
    Hitting with dad just got a lot easier 🤣 (via @derekradley/IG) | ESPN
    invidious
    84 views
    Thumbnail for Will Net Neutrality Save the Internet?4:02
    Will Net Neutrality Save the Internet?
    ReasonVids
    966 views
    Thumbnail for The BEST Midas In Fortnite. | Aid0:41
    The BEST Midas In Fortnite. | Aid
    invidious
    98 views
    Thumbnail for ITV wrongly announce the death of Pope Francis on evening news0:13
    ITV wrongly announce the death of Pope Francis on evening news
    AOU
    1115 views
    Thumbnail for 城寨 Stand Up II : 「C C字幕版」15/12/2024: 中共莫財一帶一路爛尾 多個基建項目中標之後冇錢施工 土耳其左右逢源乘勢而上 烏干達至肯亞鐵路由土耳其中標日本歐洲融資 | 城寨 Singjai41:29
    城寨 Stand Up II : 「C C字幕版」15/12/2024: 中共莫財一帶一路爛尾 多個基建項目中標之後冇錢施工 土耳其左右逢源乘勢而上 烏干達至肯亞鐵路由土耳其中標日本歐洲融資 | 城寨 Singjai
    invidious
    100 views
    Thumbnail for Have you been dreaming about switching your career to Software Engineer? | Have you been dreaming about switching your career to Software Engineer?0:32
    Have you been dreaming about switching your career to Software Engineer? | Have you been dreaming about switching your career to Software Engineer?
    invidious
    456 views
    Thumbnail for 🎧🔴LIVE สด ฟังเพลงออนไลน์ ฟังต่อเนื่อง 24 ชั่วโมง #ฟังเพลง #ไม่มีโฆษณา •🎶🎶🎶 | คนไกลบ้าน1:00
    🎧🔴LIVE สด ฟังเพลงออนไลน์ ฟังต่อเนื่อง 24 ชั่วโมง #ฟังเพลง #ไม่มีโฆษณา •🎶🎶🎶 | คนไกลบ้าน
    invidious
    345 views
    Thumbnail for Big girl ballet0:11
    Big girl ballet
    bestofvoatxyz
    1302 views
    Thumbnail for Hey Ladies, Use It or Lose It | Live From The Lair14:33
    Hey Ladies, Use It or Lose It | Live From The Lair
    Terrence Popp
    539 views
    Thumbnail for India vs Australia, 3rd Test, Day 5 | IND vs AUS Live Match| Live Cricket Match Today, AUS Batting | Iqbal Sports2:50:25
    India vs Australia, 3rd Test, Day 5 | IND vs AUS Live Match| Live Cricket Match Today, AUS Batting | Iqbal Sports
    invidious
    190 views
    Thumbnail for using a Sword is Just like PUNCHING! #sword #martialarts #hema | Sellsword Arts0:59
    using a Sword is Just like PUNCHING! #sword #martialarts #hema | Sellsword Arts
    invidious
    61 views
    Thumbnail for nukenard.mp40:13
    nukenard.mp4
    Queuenard
    153 views
    Thumbnail for Joe Biden Non-Campaign Ad0:45
    Joe Biden Non-Campaign Ad
    ReasonVids
    1006 views
    Thumbnail for example of chimping out at security0:41
    example of chimping out at security
    bestofupgoat
    87 views
    Thumbnail for Cat fight in aisle 50:34
    Cat fight in aisle 5
    bestofvoatxyz
    803 views
    Thumbnail for Interview with Reason Cartoonist Peter Bagge5:02
    Interview with Reason Cartoonist Peter Bagge
    ReasonVids
    1018 views
    Thumbnail for When San Francisco Stopped Prosecuting Drug Users, Violent Crime Went Down3:33
    When San Francisco Stopped Prosecuting Drug Users, Violent Crime Went Down
    ReasonVids
    914 views
    Thumbnail for Did Silk Road Creator Ross Ulbricht Deserve Life in Prison? Deep Web Director Alex Winter Speaks9:40
    Did Silk Road Creator Ross Ulbricht Deserve Life in Prison? Deep Web Director Alex Winter Speaks
    ReasonVids
    899 views

points

Permalink
Reply
libertarian
,
reason magazine
,
reason.com
,
reason.tv
,
reasontv
,
africa
,
john stossel
,
free markets
,
poverty
,
corruption
,
bureaucracy
,
red tape
,
toms
,
shoe
,
skin is skin
,
magatte wade
TOS  •  Add Keywords  •  Donate  •   Analytics  •   DMCA  •   Puzzle