Blame this on Bush
 

Interesting read.

Bringing solar light bulbs to the world - CNN.com


"In 2006, the United States invested more than $16 million in a massive effort to install Play Pumps across sub-Saharan Africa. Four years later, 4,000 Play Pumps had been installed. But according to a UNICEF report the Play Pumps haven't worked as promised.
At $14,000 each they are expensive. And the children grew bored of the hard work of "playing" on the merry-go-rounds, forcing women in the village to operate the pumps. In addition, the pumps proved to be unreliable, and when they break they require expert technicians to repair them, according to UNICEF."


Doesn't quite add up though. 4000@14k ea is 56 million.


Nonetheless Here's another great example of why this country has no money.

This too.

"Polak's nonprofit markets a pump of its own, which costs about $8 to make and sells for $25. Polak says a small family farmer who buys a pump can increase his annual income by $100.

He says they have sold 1.5 million in Bangladesh alone and have created thousands of jobs in turn. "

maybe he could invent a george bush head lightbulb for $20

Polak is an interesting guy. Lot's of great marketing ideas at a very basic level. Don't give people something, sell them something that they can afford, that will give them a 2-300% yearly return, is maintainable by the owner, etc. Sort of like the penn z series.