As a trained economist, I am cognisant of the concepts of scarcity and opportunity cost. This is the cornerstone of the study of economics, the fact that resources applied to one use cannot be applied to other uses. In other words, nothing in this life is free. In this world of finite resources you must give up something in order to achieve what you have, be it time, money or effort. Coupled with this is the concept of efficiency, that is utilising our resources in such a way that you receive maximum benefit from its use.
I abhor wastage and inefficient allocation of resources. An economy is said to be performing well if it is profitable, usually signalled by a country having a high gross domestic product. However, herein lies the irony. In the drive for higher profits, a society may be made worse off. What guarantees are there that this wealth will be even distributed to all?
Welfare is a very emotive subject. Many will argue that the granting of welfare is actually hurting rather than helping the recipient. It creates a dependency syndrome that many may not be able to escape. However, as an economist, and in spite of my training about opportunity cost and efficiency, I cannot be comfortable with the fact that in the presence of wealth, there are people suffering.
Economists will argue this indicates the presence of income inequality and allocative inefficiency. Theoretically we may be able to fix these issues; in reality it may not be so easy. We assume that people are rational decision makers. The fact is they are not. We assume that people have certain basic abilities. The fact is this is not so.
We assume that people's lives are basically launched on the same trajectory, and all are granted the same opportunities. The fact is this is certainly not so. People are faced with many situations in life that may place them in unfortunate circumstances. A helping hand may save them from sinking into an abyss.
When the babycare grant came with conditions, I was satisfied. When I saw the users of Gate having to be more accountable, I was satisfied. Many a single mother or unemployed father depends on programmes like Cepep to send children to school. An innovative feature such as microcredit, following the Grameen Bank model, could become an element of the programme, as well as lessons in financial literacy.
It should be about inclusion, not exclusion. Welfare, with conditions, will always be a feature of all progressive societies.
Steve Seetahal,
Fulbright Scholar in Economics