R. Glenn Hubbard, Jeffrey Sachs, and others on rebuilding war-torn socieites

Last Friday, R. Glenn Hubbard, author of The Aid Trap: Hard Truths About Ending Poverty, participated in a conference on how to rebuild war-torn societies, with specific attention paid to Africa and Afghanistan.

Video portions of the conference, including remarks from R. Glenn Hubbard can be viewed here. Jeffrey Sachs emphasized the need to adjust to the needs of each individual country while Hubbard spoke about the importance of supporting local businesses and entrepreneurship. From the Web site, Global Impact:

Hubbard noted that poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa is extensive despite contributions of more than $1 trillion in aid over the last forty years. He called for an initiative to encourage the development of local businesses in Africa that would resemble the so-called Marshall Plan, employed by General George C. Marshall to rebuild Europe in the wake of World War II.

“When Marshall spoke at Harvard in his commencement speech,” Hubbard said, “he said that it was really the breakdown of business during the war that was the problem that aid must solve. He was right.”