Jeremy Berkoff
Jeremy Berkoff is a development
economist with 40 years experience in
consultancy, government and
international agencies. His speciality
is water resources. For 18 years he
worked for the World Bank in Asia
and the Middle East. Since 1994, he
has been an independent consultant.
He is chairman of the International
Consulting Economists’ Association
(ICEA), London, and a research
associate with the School of Oriental
and African Studies (SOAS), London
University.
Papers Published in World Economics:
The Opium Economy: A Possible Approach to Reform
This paper reviews options for reform of the opium economy within a holistic world context, emphasising the economic forces at work at each stage of the marketing chain. Rather than choosing between prohibition and legalisation, the paper proposes an incremental approach that would move steadily from a prohibitionist framework to one that was increasingly liberalised. The approach focuses on squeezing-and ideally eliminating-the profits earned in the illicit trade. It would do this by: diverting trade from illicit traffickers to public agencies; enhancing illicit costs by continued active interdiction; and, in due course, adopting forms of predatory pricing to further squeeze illicit profits. As the illicit trade withered, local markets in consuming countries might become feasible, which-as in the case of alcohol and tobacco-could be regulated and taxed with the aim of minimising harm, suppressing demand and promoting appropriate treatment and education.
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Hydropower in Bhutan and Nepal
Bhutan and Nepal have followed differing hydropower development strategies.
Bhutan has co-operated with India and power export earnings have helped fund a
broadly successful economic, environmental and social programme. In contrast,
Nepal turned to the World Bank and other donors to fund its power projects.
When World Bank funding for Arun III was withdrawn in 1995, its programme
was thrown into disarray and it remains to this day a net power importer. Nepal’s
current economic, environmental and social malaise can in part be attributed to
these past decisions in the power sector by the Government and World Bank.
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