N.Z. aid

Press, 5 December 1988, Page 16

N.Z. aid

Sir, —Contrary to what Mark D. Sadler says, I accept the argument that high population growth rates can impede the raising of living standards in developing countries. He should accept the counter-argument, substantiated by the World Bank, that low living standards in developing countries can impede the lowering of population growth rates. Breaking this poverty cycle is not just a matter of reducing population growth rates. It also necessitates the raising of living standards. The former remedy treats poverty as essentially a population problem and thus absolves the wealthier nations of responsibility for it. The latter acknowledges the unjust distribution of world income and the desirability' of mechanisms such as aid for the transferral of resources from rich to poor nations. — Yours, etc.,

TONY BANKS. November 30, 1988

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