There is nothing preordained about any of this: in 1950, what was then the Belgian Congo had a higher GDP per capita than either China or India. But today it’s literally the last place in the world you’d want to start a business. Well, okay, a big chunk of the Congo’s been a war-torn hellhole for the last decade. So what about, say, Guinea-Bissau? Starting a business there requires overcoming 17 government hurdles, takes 233 days and costs 257.7 per cent of income per capita. Which is why Bono can’t put his money where his mouth is.
A quarter-century ago at Live Aid, Bob Geldof stood on the stage of Wembley Stadium and bellowed at the developed world: “Give us yer fokkin’ money!” By the time of Live 8 in 2005, the message had evolved: the rockers were no longer demanding our money, only that we in turn beseech our governments to give more “aid” to Africa. In her new book, the Zambian economist (actually, more of an econo-babe) Dambisa Moyo takes aim at Sir Bob and Sir Bono beginning with the very title: Dead Aid. Government-to-government aid, says Miss Moyo, all but guarantees corruption and barbarism: a country that seeks private business investment will be accountable to the global markets; a country that raises public funds from taxes will be accountable to its own voters. But a government that gets “aid” from other governments is accountable to no one and nothing, and decades of easy money that make self-absorbed Western do-gooders feel swell about themselves have debauched the political culture of a continent. Which is why so much of the trillion dollars lavished on Africa since the earliest days of decolonization has wound up in this week’s president-for-life’s Swiss bank account while the conditions for domestic wealth generation improve not a whit.
But lowering the obstacles to business formation in the Congo doesn’t have the cachet that celeb-led moral posturing does. On the face of it, listening to a bunch of leathery old rockers ululating their ancient hits would seem an unlikely way to end poverty in the world, but it does absolve one of having to think about Africa—or even about which bits of “Africa” work (Mauritius) and which don’t (Somalia), and why. The historian Niall Ferguson, who wrote the introduction to Dead Aid, says that he was left “wanting a lot more Moyo, and a lot less Bono.” And, as much as any policy she proposes, this lèse-majesté to the beshaded knight of compassionate cool seems to have driven his humanitarian non-profit group to launch multiple if somewhat obsessive assaults on Miss Moyo.
I love elderly rock stars—not for their “music,” which is mostly ghastly, but for their business acumen, which totally rocks. Sir Paul McCartney owns the publishing rights to Guys & Dolls. David Bowie was the first pop singer to hold a bond offering in his back catalogue and had $55 million worth of Bowie “Class A royalty-backed notes” snapped up in nothing flat after Moody’s gave them their much coveted triple-A rating. Madonna cleans up with a book of nude photographs featuring such unsettling sights as her naked bottom propped up like a novelty bike rest, and then decides to relaunch her literary career with some improving children’s stories, but, either way, is savvy enough to headquarter her business interests in the United States and United Kingdom.
Yet ask her to help Africa and she climbs up on stage, as she did at Live 8, and urges people to “start a revolution.” Like Africa hasn’t had enough of those this last half-century? You can run a farm or factory in relatively primitive societies. But the protection of intellectual property—of products as flimsy as sung words and crotchets and quavers—requires the most evolved form of capitalist society. The aristorockracy are the last people who want a revolution. Africa should do as Bono does, not as he says.
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Bono should be allowed to keep as much of his hard earned Euros/pound sterling as he can. He is a generous man and he gives away probably more than he keeps. What he is doing is smart: setting things up so HE can decide where his money goes rather than some stupid damn bureaucrat or politician making that decision.
Leave the man alone.
I agree he should be allowed to keep as much of his earned money as he can, but so should we. The trouble is, he demands more from us than he is willing to give himself. It’s easy to pontificate how others should manage their money and/or their lives. That’s what he does, essentially “do as I say, not as I do.” He has, arguably, way more resources to donate than the vast majority of his fans. So if he calls for more donations from the people who support him, he should donate more by a greater percentage. The fact that he doesn’t makes him a hypocrite.
And it’s not just Bono. Virtually any “celebrity” can get up and tell us how we should run our lives, but they won’t practice what they preach.
That’s my point and felling exactly. They yelp and wave their arms so much that they waste their energyand money instead of helping their supposed causes. HMMM Ireland is a candidate to be need IMF help. wonder why they might be upset at Bono eh?
Beware of rich philanthropists who constantly beg for money.
Exactly!! Lori nails it! The hypocrisy from Bono is rank!
Beware of human rights activists who pose for pictures with warmongers like Bush Jr. while giving the peace symbol.
People should be allowed to keep their money. So what if he doesn’t pay all his taxes in Ireland. Quite frankly with the money that Bono saves, chances are it’s more likely to go to a better cause or at least not going to cause more evil. I think if the Irish government is going to be critical about it, then honestly don’t be a free market society. Honestly, why should people be punished for being smart, especially when being smart isn’t hurting someone. Money is not meant to be the end all be all..it’s meant to help people be comfortable.
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even socially conscious celebrity types are not immune from the human desire to stockpile wealth as a status symbol …. it’s kind of funny to some extent … like john lennon writing “imagine no possessions” in his mansion
Well, quite so, Mr. Steyn. I refer you to the age-old saw that foreign aid translates as poor people in rich countries giving money to rich people in poor countries. Enough already!
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Who cares?!?!?! He is a ROCK star! NOT a world leader! His music might be more enjoyable if he wasn’t such a pain in the ass!
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Mark, it is sad that you feel the need to belittle someone who clearly is far more educated and intelligent than you by referring to her as an “econo-babe,” but my thinking is that this will not Steyn your reputation anymore than it already is. You are in Maclean’s, after all.
Bono needs to realize that when 90% of global wealth is in the hands of 1% of the population it's up to HIM to help the third world. Taxes MUST come from that sector because that is where the money is and allowing them to hide their finances in other countries prevents the flow of cash that prevents hardship on his OWN people. Rock stars are no different than profit glutted indistrialists-they need to come up off the cash even if it means they have to switch to a cheaper brand of caviar. And as to Bush helping the African nations-what a buncha crap…I worked in Nigeria for years and during the Bush administration. The petroleum industry has helped create and maintain some of the vilest dictatorships in the world. Stop singing the praises of a president who spied on his own people, authorized torture for political prisoners and engineered wars for profit. America would have elected a monkey to get the taste of George Bush out of their mouths.
“one needs bile to digest the lipid dross of flaccid critics
Oh, that’s why. Good to know.
*rolls eyes*
I’m rubbing my eyes too – lipid dross of flaccid critics! (Damn that’s good – not exactly sure what it means but think I’m close .. might even steal it from you sometime)