The market mentality

From the World Bank PSD blog:

Does Niger have a market mentality?

I think the author was being too easy on the original article. Still it was a good observation about the excessive market repression in Niger. I just commented that the rhetorical question is a bit confusing: whose market mentality are we talking about? I certainly hope that the post is not questioning the ability of the Nigerian private sector to respond to market incentives. What I think they mean is that the public sector is distrustful of markets, nor is there a significant public constitutency to support market reform. In the long run this is precisely what condemns countries like Niger to poverty - or in this case, chronic food insecurity.