The Good Colonialism

Stanford Economist Paul Romer wants “dysfunctional nations to kick-start their own development” by leasing territory to foreign governments, an idea criticized as “neo-colonial”. The Atlantic Monthly writes that “By building urban oases of technocratic sanity, struggling nations could attract investment and jobs; private capital would flood in and foreign aid would not be needed…To launch new charter cities, Romer says, poor countries should lease chunks of territory to enlightened foreign powers, which would take charge as though presiding over some imperial protectorate.”