the Evil Line

Fix poverty, not with aid, but by making charter cities:

Because Hong Kong helped make reform in the rest of China possible, the British intervention there arguably did more to reduce world poverty than all the official aid programmes of the 20th century, and at a fraction of the cost. And, if many such cities are built, fewer people will be trapped in the failed states that are the root cause of most humanitarian crises and security concerns.

Apparently "we" should just build a million-plus city from scratch somewhere on the coast of Africa with no fresh water, and the world will be transformed. Romer might have identified the right problem in this article, but his solution sounds ridiculous. Then again, it might just work.