adjustment programs and those ofnother institutions had largely failed.nThe reason, according to the InternationalnMonetary Fund’s publication Financesnand Development, was thatnrecipient governments “were not adequatelynpersuaded.”nThis is nothing more than a multilateralndevelopment banker’s way ofnsaying that the big lenders and donorsnlacked the political will to demandnreforms in exchange for cash and credits.nAfter all, structural adjustmentn22/CHR(3NICLESnfunds are designed to help cushionncountries against the shocks to politicalnand social systems caused by a freenmarket reorientation of economic policy.nDespite rhetorical support fornstructural and sectoral reforms, manynrecipient countries simply take thenmoney and run, leaving the multilateralninstitutions wringing their hands.nHernando de Soto’s Other Path isnreally the only path to economic rejuvenationnin the developing worid, yetnhis recommendations can only becomenWho’ll Buy My Lifetime?nby Tom MurraynAt about seventeen or above —nAge for Beethoven’s Fifth or first love —nHis friend and idol told him, starry-eyed,n”The wodd, believe me, is flat”nAnd, having said so, died.nAnd that for him was that.nHis faith thereafter canvassed sixty yearsnOf doors. The accustomed streetnLooked up at his outstretched pamphletsnAnd planted corns on his feet.nOn umpteen tubs he thumped his fearsnFor mankind’s safety. On the sinisternDooms that waited on unbeliefnHe wrote to both Pope and Prime Minister.nAnd each day’s passion had the same relief:nThe lengthening climb to the grey-haired bed,nThe reverenced photograph, the credo said,n”The world, I know, is flat”. . . .nThe pills and glass of water, then the steepnDrop headlong to embatfled sleep.nnnreality when the United States andnother sources of aid demonstrate thatntheir patience has ended for thosennations that pay only lip service toneconomic reform. In an era when ournown fiscal resources are shrinking, ourndevelopment assistance policy shouldnbe simple and direct: reward those whonare willing to help themselves, penalizenthose who don’t. Unfettered economiesnare the only solution to long-termnstability, and the only secure foundationnfor a pluralist political system. <^n