サマーズ・メモ

Exporting polluting industry to poor countries

In December 1991, while at the World Bank, Summers signed a memo, written by economist Lant Pritchett [1], an excerpt of which has become known as the infamous Summers memo. The excerpt, an "ironic aside" according to its author, argued that pollution from First World countries should be dumped into Third World countries:

"The Memo

DATE: December 12, 1991 TO: Distribution FR: Lawrence H. Summers Subject: GEP

'Dirty' Industries: Just between you and me, shouldn't the World Bank be encouraging MORE migration of the dirty industries to the LDCs [Less Developed Countries]? I can think of three reasons:

1) The measurements of the costs of health impairing pollution depends on the foregone earnings from increased morbidity and mortality. From this point of view a given amount of health impairing pollution should be done in the country with the lowest cost, which will be the country with the lowest wages. I think the economic logic behind dumping a load of toxic waste in the lowest wage country is impeccable and we should face up to that.