Peter Bauer redirects here. For the Photoshop expert, see Peter Bauer (computer specialist).

Peter Thomas Bauer, Baron Bauer (1915 - May 2, 2002) was a world-famous developmental economist. Bauer is best remembered for his opposition to the widely-held notion that the most effective manner to help developing countries advance is through state-controlled foreign aid. Peter Bauer (born October 29, 1957) is perhaps best known as the Help Desk Director for the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP). ... 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... May 2 is the 122nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (123rd in leap years). ... For the Cusco album, see 2002 (album). ... Development economics is a branch of economics that deals with the study of (i) macro - the causes of long term economic growth, and (ii) micro - the incentive issues of individual households and firms, especially in developing countries. ... Coloured world map indicating Human Development Index (as of 2003). ... Foreign aid, international aid or development assistance are situations in which one country helps another country through some form of donation. ...

Life

Bauer was born Pieter Tamás Bauer in Budapest, Hungary in 1915. He studied Law in Budapest before embarking for England in 1934 to study Economics at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, from which he graduated in 1937. After a brief period in the private sector working for Guthrie & Co., a London-based merchant house that conducted business in the Far East, Bauer spent most of his long career at the London School of Economics and retired in 1983, as Emeritus Professor of Economics. In 1983, with the support of his friend and admirer Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, he was indeed made a life peer. Lord Bauer was also a fellow of the British Academy and a member of the Mont Pelerin Society, founded by his friend Friedrich Hayek. He died in London, England on May 2, 2002. His work in developmental economics has greatly impacted foreign aid policies of many countries, as well as, the World Bank. Nickname: Paris of the East, Pearl of the Danubeor Queen of the Danube Official website: www. ... 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Law (from the late Old English lagu of probable North Germanic origin) in politics and jurisprudence, is a set of rules or norms of conduct which mandate, proscribe or permit specified relationships among people and organizations, intended to provide methods for ensuring the impartial treatment of such people, and provide... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my [birth]right) Englands location (dark green) within the British Isles Languages English (de facto) Capital London de facto Largest city London Area – Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population – Total (mid-2004) – Total (2001 Census) – Density Ranked... 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Economics (from the Greek οίκος [oikos], family, household, estate, and νομος [nomos], custom, law, hence household management and management of the state) is a social science that studies the production, distribution, trade and consumption of goods and services. ... Full name Gonville and Caius College Motto Named after Edmund Gonville & John Caius Previous names Gonville Hall (1348), Gonville & Caius (1557) Established 1348, refounded 1557 Sister College(s) Brasenose College Master Sir Christopher Hum Location Trinity St Undergraduates 468 Postgraduates 291 Homepage Boatclub Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, generally known... 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... For other uses, see London (disambiguation) and Defining London (below). ... 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Contributions to economics

Nearly all of Lord Bauer's greatest contributions concerned development economics, international development and foreign aid. Bauer sought to convince other development experts that central planning, foreign aid, price controls, and protectionism perpetuate poverty rather than eliminate it, and that the growth of government intervention politicizes economic life and reduces individual freedom. Development economics is a branch of economics that deals with the study of (i) macro - the causes of long term economic growth, and (ii) micro - the incentive issues of individual households and firms, especially in developing countries. ... The goal of international development is to alleviate poverty among citizens of developing countries. ... Foreign aid, international aid or development assistance are situations in which one country helps another country through some form of donation. ... A planned economy is an economic system in which decisions about the production, allocation and consumption of goods and services is planned ahead of time, in either a centralized or decentralized fashion. ... Foreign aid, international aid or development assistance are situations in which one country helps another country through some form of donation. ... In economics, incomes policies are wage and price controls used to fight inflation. ... Protectionism is the economic policy of protecting a nations manufacturing base from the effects of foreign competition (such as including Dumping) by means of high tariffs on imported goods, restrictive quotas, and other means of reducing importation. ... World map showing Life expectancy. ...

Bauer revolutionised thinking about the determinants of economic advance. Indeed, the World Bank, in its 1997 World Development Report, stated that the notion that "good advisers and technical experts would formulate good policies, which good governments would then implement for the good of society" was outdated: "the institutional assumptions implicit in this world view were, as we all realize today, too simplistic... Governments embarked on fanciful schemes. Private investors, lacking confidence in public policies or in the steadfastness of leaders, held back. Powerful rulers acted arbitrarily. Corruption became endemic. Development faltered, and poverty endured" (pp.10-11). This reflected the sort of arguments Bauer had been advocating for years. Logo of the World Bank Group The World Bank Group is a group of five international organizations responsible for providing finance to countries for purposes of development and poverty reduction, and for encouraging and safeguarding international investment. ...

For Bauer, the essence of development was the expansion of individual choices, and the role of the state to protect life, liberty, and property so that individuals can pursue their own goals and desires. Limited government, not central planning, was his mantra.

Accordingly, in 1957, Bauer wrote in Economic Analysis and Policy in Under-developed Countries:

"I regard the extension of the range of choice, that is, an increase in the range of effective alternatives open to people, as the principal objective and criterion of economic development; and I judge a measure principally by its probable effects on the range of alternatives open to individuals... The acceptance of this objective means that I attach significance, meaning, and value to individual acts of choice and valuation, including the individual time preference between the present and the future".

He went on to say that "my position is much influenced by my dislike of policies or measures which are likely to increase man's power over man; that is, to increase the control of groups or individuals over their fellow men."

Bauer placed himself firmly in the tradition of the great classical liberals. His adherence to the principles of free trade and free people reflected his deep respect for the dignity, rationality, and capabilities of the disadvantaged around the world. Free trade is an economic concept referring to the selling of products between countries without tariffs or other trade barriers. ...

In his many articles and books, including Dissent on Development, Bauer overturned many of the commonly held beliefs of development economics. He refuted the idea that poverty is self-perpetuating and showed that central planning and large-scale public investment are not preconditions for growth. In his clever fashion he noted, "It is more meaningful to say that capital is created in the process of development, rather than that development is a function of capital."

He criticized the idea that the disadvantaged could not and would not save for the future, or that they had no motivation to improve their condition. He opposed "compulsory saving," which he preferred to call "special taxation," and, like modern supply-side economists, recognized the detrimental effects of high taxes on economic activity. Bauer also saw that government-directed investment funded by "special taxation" would increase "inequality in the distribution of power."

Bauer's experience in Malaya (now Malaysia), in the late 1940s, and in West Africa influenced his views on the importance of individual effort by small landowners and traders in moving from subsistence to a higher standard of living. As he wrote in The Development Frontier:  Western Africa (UN subregion)  Maghreb West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. ... Subsistence means living in a permanently fragile equilibrium between alimentary needs and the means for satisfying them. ... The Standard of living refers to the quality and quantity of goods and services available to people. ...

"A developed infrastructure was not a precondition for the emergence of the major cash crops of Southeast Asia and West Africa. As has often been the case elsewhere, the facilities known as infrastructure were developed as the economy expanded... What happened was in very large measure the result of the individual voluntary responses of millions of people to emerging or expanding opportunities created largely by external contacts and brought to their notice in a variety of ways, primarily through the operation of the market. These developments were made possible by firm but limited government, without large expenditures of public funds and without the receipt of large external subventions."

Bauer was perhaps the first economist to recognize the importance of the informal sector and advocated the "dynamic gains" from international trade - that is, the net gains that result from exposure to new ideas, new methods of production, new products, and new people. He demonstrated that trade barriers and restrictive immigration and population policies deprive countries of those gains. Location of Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is a subregion of Asia. ...  Western Africa (UN subregion)  Maghreb West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. ... International trade is the exchange of goods and services across international boundaries or territories. ...

For Bauer government-to-government aid was neither necessary nor sufficient for development, and may actually hinder it. "To have money is the result of economic achievement, not its precondition," he argued. Trade, not aid, promotes long-run prosperity. The danger of aid, according to Bauer, is that it increases the power of government, leads to corruption, misallocates resources, and erodes civil society.

In a column published after Bauer's death, Theodore Dalrymple noted that "[a]lthough he always denied having said it, Bauer became known as the originator of the dictum that foreign aid is the means by which poor people in rich countries give money to rich people in poor countries." Anthony (A.M.) Daniels is a British physician and writer who frequently uses the pen name Theodore Dalrymple. ...

Unfortunately, Bauer's tone is often seen as polemic and disparaging of the achievements of developing countries. This has limited his audience in the countries to which his arguments apply.

Major works

• Peter Thomas Bauer (1946). "The Working of Rubber Regulation". The Economic Journal 56: 391-414.
• Peter Thomas Bauer; Basil S. Yamey (1951). "Economic Progress and Occupational Distribution". The Economic Journal 61: 741-755.
• Peter Thomas Bauer (1948). The Rubber Industry: A Study in Competition and Monopoly, Longmans, Green & Co..
• Peter Thomas Bauer; F. W. Paish (1952). "Reduction in the Fluctuations of Incomes of Primary Producers". The Economic Journal 62: 750-780.
• Peter Thomas Bauer (1954). West African Trade: A Study of Competition, Oligopoly and Monopoly in a Changing Economy, Cambridge University Press.
• Peter Thomas Bauer; Basil S. Yamey (1957). The Economics of Under-developed Countries, Cambridge University Press.
• Peter Thomas Bauer (1957). Economic Analysis and Policy in Under-developed Countries, Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0415312973.
• Peter Thomas Bauer (1959). United States Aid and Indian Economic Development, American Enterprise Association. ISBN 0297783351.
• Peter Thomas Bauer (1961). Indian Economic Policy and Development, Allen & Unwin.
• Peter Thomas Bauer; Basil S. Yamey (1968). Markets, Market Control and Marketing Boards, Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 0297763806. See :Yamey
• Peter Thomas Bauer (1971). "Economic History as Theory". Economica 38: 163-179.
• Peter Thomas Bauer (1971). Dissent on Development: Studies and Debates in Development Economics, Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 0297002821.
• Peter Thomas Bauer (1981). Equality, the Third World and Economic Delusion, Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 0297776452. (Extracts)
• Peter Thomas Bauer (1984). Reality and Rhetoric: Studies in the Economics of Development, Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 0297783351, ISBN 0297786288.
• Peter Thomas Bauer (1991). The Development Frontier: Essays in Applied Economics, Harvester Wheatsheaf. ISBN 0745010385 (Paperback), ISBN 0745010385 (Hardback).

Yamey: anglicization of a Lithuanian Jewish name. ... The headquarters of the Cambridge University Press, in Trumpington Street, Cambridge. ... The headquarters of the Cambridge University Press, in Trumpington Street, Cambridge. ... The headquarters of the Cambridge University Press, in Trumpington Street, Cambridge. ... Yamey: anglicization of a Lithuanian Jewish name. ...

References

• Blundell, John et al. (2002). A Tribute to Peter Bauer, The Institute of Economic Affairs. ISBN 0-255-36531-4.
• 1997 World Development Report
• Peter Thomas Bauer (1957). Economic Analysis and Policy in Under-developed Countries, Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0415312973.
• Peter Thomas Bauer (1971). Dissent on Development: Studies and Debates in Development Economics, Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 0297002821.
• Peter Thomas Bauer (1991). The Development Frontier: Essays in Applied Economics, Harvester Wheatsheaf. ISBN 0745010385 (Paperback), ISBN 0745010385 (Hardback).

The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) is a London-based conservative think tank. ... The headquarters of the Cambridge University Press, in Trumpington Street, Cambridge. ...

External links

• Peter Bauer from The New School for Social Research
• Bruce Bartlett on Peter Bauer
• Thomas Sowell on Peter Bauer
• Peter Brimelow on Peter Bauer
• Aid, Trade, Development: The Bauer Legacy