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This is wonderful news !! - By sending dollars to Kenya it's helping reduce inflation for the Kenyan govt. The biggest problem for many developing countries is

This is wonderful news !! - By sending dollars to Kenya it's helping reduce inflation for the Kenyan govt. The biggest problem for many developing countries is finding a way to get their hands on the global reserve currency. - Its allowing private wealth to be created (by women !!), empowering women have very positive cascading effects in a country (fertility rate drops, women have personal freedom to do other things ). Private wealth directly in the pocket of Kenyans is one the most efficient ways the developed world can help the developing world. Normally giving cash to the govt results in looting of public coffers. - Teaching useful computer skills to the average kenyan.

themihai 8y ago
I don't think they pay them that much for data entry/labelling but yeah... a job is a job.
- iguy 8y ago
  Well according to TFA they pay over 4x the going day wage. That sounds like quite a raise to me.
  - themihai 8y ago
    It's not bad but why do they feel the need to eat sh? They could have said just that "we pay 4x the going day wage and we want to maximise our profits" instead of that BS: "we don't want to disrupt the labour market so we keep the wages for their own good."
    - iguy 8y ago
      My guess is that the guy they interviewed spends his weekends hanging out with NGO types. How else would you get invited to any parties in Nairobi? And they love this stuff... saying "everybody profits" makes you sound like a cold-hearted evil capitalist.
knieveltech 8y ago
There have been spontaneous demonstrations among the workers voicing their joy and gratitude at our happy new way of life. /s It seems pretty naive to assume that a handful of individuals being paid a fraction of the going rate for western labor is going to have a meaningful impact on the country's economy or lead to sweeping social changes.
- dmos62 8y ago
  No one is saying that is enough, only that it has positive impact.
  - knieveltech 8y ago
    Sure, but the argument is specious for all of the same reasons that philanthropy has a track record of exacerbating the social problems it intended to solve.
- T2_t2 8y ago
  All of Asia was dragged out of poverty - over time - by doing stuff cheaper. China is a world power not from communism or protectionism or by some grand gesture. They took awful jobs for a tiny amount of pay (by western standards) and eeked their way up the GDP ladder. It is a the worst kind of white, privileged attitude that taking a higher paid job won't improve things for the locals. But lets give this a fair airing. Name a country that had a GDP increase in any other way. I'll wait.
  - outerproduct 8y ago
    korea
  - knieveltech 8y ago
    Scandinavia and the entire Soviet Union spring to mind instantly. There's nothing particularly white or privileged about healthy skepticism of any system that hinges on labor arbitrage to accomplish it's goals. Go meditate on the econ definition of the word "exploitation" until enlightenment is achieved. Note, if you're planning on trying to muster McCarthyite arguments at this point you're going to have to overcome the fact that the first manmade object and the first person in space were both put there by communists.
nashashmi 8y ago
I don't follow the "very positive cascading effects" line. How is low fertility rate and women being free to do other things a positive cascading effect? Historically, it makes families more unstable. Edit: I'm not saying women working is a bad thing. It's good on many fronts. But I feel the ripple effects are not positive.
- dwaltrip 8y ago
  Lower, not low. Having 5-7 children per family makes it a lot harder to increase your economic position and education levels. It's a good thing when developing countries start lowering their fertility rates towards those seen in developed countries.
- iciac 8y ago
  It's not only developing countries that benefit from increased female participation in the labour force. For Western nations, the increased proportion of women in the labour force was a core component of the rapid increased economic growth between the 1940's and today. Low fertility is an interesting thing where it comes to development; for most countries it has quite dramatically declined as incomes have increased. The effects are likely bidirectional (increased economic growth -> lower fertility rate; lower fertility rate -> increased per capita income). The drivers are complex and interrelated: high child mortality rates, low life expectancy, and high poverty are associated with high fertility. It's an unjust comparison to make, however leading theories share common features with K-r reproduction strategies in ecology (with increased survival / longevity, investing in a few highly educated/skilled children becomes feasible). Similarly, increased education / maternal health is highly correlated with economic development and child wellbeing. These are often highly compounding effects over time - a virtuous cycle in which increased economic freedoms, health, education, and opportunities (male and female - often females are relatively impoverished, so there's the potential for bigger immediate benefits) can lead to rapid development with the right institutional conditions.

themihai 8y ago

I don't think they pay them that much for data entry/labelling but yeah... a job is a job.

iguy 8y ago
Well according to TFA they pay over 4x the going day wage. That sounds like quite a raise to me.
- themihai 8y ago
  It's not bad but why do they feel the need to eat sh? They could have said just that "we pay 4x the going day wage and we want to maximise our profits" instead of that BS: "we don't want to disrupt the labour market so we keep the wages for their own good."
  - iguy 8y ago
    My guess is that the guy they interviewed spends his weekends hanging out with NGO types. How else would you get invited to any parties in Nairobi? And they love this stuff... saying "everybody profits" makes you sound like a cold-hearted evil capitalist.

knieveltech 8y ago

There have been spontaneous demonstrations among the workers voicing their joy and gratitude at our happy new way of life. /s It seems pretty naive to assume that a handful of individuals being paid a fraction of the going rate for western labor is going to have a meaningful impact on the country's economy or lead to sweeping social changes.

dmos62 8y ago
No one is saying that is enough, only that it has positive impact.
- knieveltech 8y ago
  Sure, but the argument is specious for all of the same reasons that philanthropy has a track record of exacerbating the social problems it intended to solve.
T2_t2 8y ago
All of Asia was dragged out of poverty - over time - by doing stuff cheaper. China is a world power not from communism or protectionism or by some grand gesture. They took awful jobs for a tiny amount of pay (by western standards) and eeked their way up the GDP ladder. It is a the worst kind of white, privileged attitude that taking a higher paid job won't improve things for the locals. But lets give this a fair airing. Name a country that had a GDP increase in any other way. I'll wait.
- outerproduct 8y ago
  korea
- knieveltech 8y ago
  Scandinavia and the entire Soviet Union spring to mind instantly. There's nothing particularly white or privileged about healthy skepticism of any system that hinges on labor arbitrage to accomplish it's goals. Go meditate on the econ definition of the word "exploitation" until enlightenment is achieved. Note, if you're planning on trying to muster McCarthyite arguments at this point you're going to have to overcome the fact that the first manmade object and the first person in space were both put there by communists.

nashashmi 8y ago

I don't follow the "very positive cascading effects" line. How is low fertility rate and women being free to do other things a positive cascading effect? Historically, it makes families more unstable. Edit: I'm not saying women working is a bad thing. It's good on many fronts. But I feel the ripple effects are not positive.

dwaltrip 8y ago
Lower, not low. Having 5-7 children per family makes it a lot harder to increase your economic position and education levels. It's a good thing when developing countries start lowering their fertility rates towards those seen in developed countries.
iciac 8y ago
It's not only developing countries that benefit from increased female participation in the labour force. For Western nations, the increased proportion of women in the labour force was a core component of the rapid increased economic growth between the 1940's and today. Low fertility is an interesting thing where it comes to development; for most countries it has quite dramatically declined as incomes have increased. The effects are likely bidirectional (increased economic growth -> lower fertility rate; lower fertility rate -> increased per capita income). The drivers are complex and interrelated: high child mortality rates, low life expectancy, and high poverty are associated with high fertility. It's an unjust comparison to make, however leading theories share common features with K-r reproduction strategies in ecology (with increased survival / longevity, investing in a few highly educated/skilled children becomes feasible). Similarly, increased education / maternal health is highly correlated with economic development and child wellbeing. These are often highly compounding effects over time - a virtuous cycle in which increased economic freedoms, health, education, and opportunities (male and female - often females are relatively impoverished, so there's the potential for bigger immediate benefits) can lead to rapid development with the right institutional conditions.