This article pops on hn periodically, so I do not have time to refute it in detail yet again, but should point out quickly that this is just a plan to create private paid for dictatorships. It is very unlikely to result in reduction of poverty as this rarely happens in dictatorships.
What will most likely happen is some type of slave camp deal as it is already happening in Dubai.
Now you will say, "but the people have a right to vote with their feet, i.e. to leave if they do not like the place." Technically yes, but in reality no. The poor foreign workers that are being held in Dubai also theoretically have a right to leave, but they cannot because the Dubai police will simply club them on their heads if they even mention leaving before finishing their job.
If you do not have an overall legal framework that protects individual rights, if the people do not have the right to elect their own leaders and/or police chiefs, then it is very unlikely the police will protect the people's rights.
I'm not sure that the situation in Dubai is one that Romer would envision. You're attacking a straw man.
Having said that, I won't argue either way. The devil is in the execution no doubt. But in trying out his idea, I would hope that there's something we can learn from it besides the would-be automatic response of "that doesn't work." What we're currently trying is clearly not working all that well, so we'd be insane not to try something different and I'd hope that Romer can get two parallel "experiments"--for concisenss--in two different countries to see which conditions, if any, are better suited for his model.
What will most likely happen is some type of slave camp deal as it is already happening in Dubai.
Now you will say, "but the people have a right to vote with their feet, i.e. to leave if they do not like the place." Technically yes, but in reality no. The poor foreign workers that are being held in Dubai also theoretically have a right to leave, but they cannot because the Dubai police will simply club them on their heads if they even mention leaving before finishing their job.
If you do not have an overall legal framework that protects individual rights, if the people do not have the right to elect their own leaders and/or police chiefs, then it is very unlikely the police will protect the people's rights.