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Federico e Francesco's avatar

I had an inside view (let's say) on a papal visit to an Asian country, and I find it not surprising at all. A visit (especially the first visit) comes after years of underground diplomatic work to make sure that the country in question becomes more open to religious freedom, of course, but improves on a lot of other things, too (rule of law, attention to the disadvantaged, foreign investment...). So it's obvious that a pope visit, which is just the cusp of years and years of work (in my case, more than three from the moment the pope expressed his interest in visiting that particular country) is beneficial to the institutions of a country. I would not understate the impact on smaller states of the international network of donors that is usually mobilized for such travels. New roads, new schools etc in order to mark the occasion.

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Alchemist's avatar

Love the idea, but have to ask... what about the control group?

Ie: exports from countries not visited by the pope during the same +/-5 year period.

(I think global trade has been on a rising trend throughout the period. Some of this might be due to falling transport costs, growth in tech, the fall of the berlin wall and the end of soviet communism.

Or possibly the pope has caused all of it...)

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