Afghanistan: the reconstruction process

In this article the author focuses initially on the degree of support provided by the international community to the interim administration of Afghanistan and notes that the pledges made at the Tokyo Conference do not equate to the per capita levels of funding made available for other recent emergencies. He draws attention to the inter–relationship between security and funding for reconstruction and comments that the recent decision of the US government to join with others in agreeing to finance work to upgrade the major highway system is very timely in shoring up the regime in the wake of the recent assassination attempt on Hamid Karzai. He stresses that the international community needs to provide sustained support to the new government if it is to survive. He also analyses the complex relationship between the administration and the aid community and reports on the calls by the government to be given the major part of the resources allocated by international donors and to be supported to take the lead in determining policy and strategy.
The author notes the nature of the Afghan economy and the potential for reconstruction, taking account of the economic impact of the conflict, the progress made by the aid community since 1992, the humanitarian crisis arising from the drought of 1999–2001 and the large scale, mainly involuntary, return of refugees from Pakistan and Iran since March 2002. He comments on the fact that the agricultural economy cannot support its population, on the need for economic safety valves in the form of migration to Pakistan and Iran, on the availability of camps for internally displaced people, and on urbanization. In concluding the author is both optimistic and cautious, noting the fragility of the situation, but also acknowledging that the international community is taking timely action to address it through reconstruction assistance although it remains reluctant to give sufficient priority to security provision.     

Review

Fiji Before the Storm: Elections and the Politics of Development Edited by Brij V. Lal. Canberra: Asia Pacific Press at the Australian National University. 2000. Pp. xii + 205. Price: $A32.     

Shopping for Schools: How Do Marginal Consumers Gather Information About Schools?

The theory of the marginal consumer holds that a subset of better informed consumers can create a globally more efficient market through their purchase decisions. In the market for education created by recent school choice initiatives, these "market mavens" are essential to the successful functioning of the choice system given the empirically documented low quantity and quality of information possessed by the average consumer. Little is known, however, about the differences between how marginal consumers and average consumers of education search for information and make decisions about their children's schooling.     

The Conservatives' Search for a Middle Way in Housing, 1951-64

The Conservatives returned to power in 1951, determined to createa property-owning democracy by freeing the market in land andhousing. But freeing the market proved to be no panacea andaroused much criticism. Most important, public housing continuedto expand as the major alternative to private home ownership,in part because the supply of private rented housing declinedprecipitously. Dismayed at this situation, the Conservativesbecame increasingly concerned to find an affordable alternativeto the continued expansion of public housing. To achieve thisgoal, they attempted to foster novel types of private ownershipin the form of societies that could provide either some sortof co-operative housing or rental housing at cost. Ultimately,these attempts to create a middle way in housing failed becausethey ignored the realities of the property market.