So much has been written about the purpose and outcome of US intervention in Afghanistan (Big Read, August 21). However, the economic aspect doesn’t get much attention.
I would like to highlight the role of development or rebuilding as reported in the “Lessons Learned Program” of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction published last month.
It states that “many of the institutions and infrastructure projects the United States built were not sustainable” (Lesson 3); that “US personnel in Afghanistan were often unqualified and poorly trained” (Lesson 4) and that “US agencies [were] struggling to effectively measure results while sometimes relying on shaky data to make claims of success” (Lesson 7).
In development economics, lack of sustainability means effectively the stream of costs over the economic life of a project exceeds the benefits. This is common in parts of the developing world plagued by inefficiency and corruption. The roots of failure in Afghanistan, as documented by Sigar, are not a mystery. Who is to blame and why is another story.
Professor Mehdi Al Bazzaz
Former World Bank Economist
Alexandria, VA, US
Letter: Development economics 101 explains Afghan failure - Financial Times
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