… famine do not occur in democracies. Indeed, no substantial famine has ever occurred in a democratic country – no matter how poor. This is because famines are extremely easy to prevent if the government tries to prevent them, and a government in a multiparty democracy with elections and free media has strong political incentives to undertake famine prevention. This would indicate that political freedom in the form of democratic arrangements helps to safeguard economic freedom (especially from extreme starvation) and the freedom to survive (against famine mortality). ** The so-called Great Leap Forward initiated in the late 1950s was a massive failure, but the Chinese government continued to pursue … Continue reading Amartya Sen