The invisible hand of the market, not the heavy hand of the government, brings economic prosperity to Kenya

From Mark Perry.

"There was a fascinating segment on “60 Minutes” last night (“The Future of Money“) about the “mobile money” revolution this has swept Kenya, where people can send and receive money on their cell phones – without using banks, bank accounts or credit cards.  Kenya’s mobile money system is called “M-PESA” and it now acts as a terrific platform that has helped launched other technological innovations to the point that the East African county is being called the “Silicon Savannah.” Not surprisingly, when M-PESA started, Kenya’s commercial banks, like any entrenched industry, lobbied for the government to impose regulations to impede its development, but the government decided to take a hands-off approach and allow Schumpeterian “creative destruction” to flourish. And flourish M-PESA has, bringing economic prosperity and growth to a poor country and giving poor people across Kenya greater access to water and electricity. And all of this new economic prosperity came to Kenya largely because of market forces, innovation, and technology and not because of the World Bank, United Nations, the IMF, or taxpayer-funded aid from foreign governments.

For Kenya’s newfound economic prosperity, it can thank the “invisible hand of the market,” rather than the more traditional “visible, heavy hand of governments” and government-funded forms of economic aid."