Tag: William Easterly
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Economic Development Links
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in Africa, Capitalism and Markets, Central America, China, Demography, Economic Development, Education, Environment, Gender and Sex, Globalization, Health and Medicine, Human Progress, International Affairs, Links – Economic Development, Poverty, Technology (Food & Water), Wealth and Income, Weatlh and Income Distribution1. Economist: March of the Middle Class 2. Chrsitianity Today: Poverty Is a Moral Problem – Interview with William Easterly … The sad thing is that the field and practice of development have too often been on the wrong side of this debate. They’ve implicitly painted themselves into a corner where they’re on the authoritarian…
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Bono, Capitalism, and Foreign Aid
Forbes had an interesting article about Bono, Bono's 'Humbling' Realizations About Aid, Capitalism And Nerds last week. Bono has learned much about music over more than three decades with U2. But alongside that has been a lifelong lesson in campaigning — the activist for poverty reduction in Africa spoke frankly on Friday about how his views…
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Abhijit Banerjee: ‘The poor, probably rightly, see that their chances of getting somewhere different are minimal’
Guardian: Abhijit Banerjee: 'The poor, probably rightly, see that their chances of getting somewhere different are minimal' The author of Poor Economics on why aid that assumes the poor will do the right thing is misguided – and why political corruption does not necessarily mean economic stagnation. … Until Poor Economics appeared last year, the…
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Wilderness to brothels to Apple store: the History of Development in one block
Aid Watch: Wilderness to brothels to Apple store: the History of Development in one block William Easterly We usually analyze Development at the national level. Why not other levels? At the other extreme, here is a short and surprising illustrated history of one city block. … He concludes: … Its history had been a series of…
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William Easterly on “Portfolios of the Poor”
I read Portfolios of the Poor: How the World's Poor Live on $2 a Day earlier this year. It is a fascinating book. I suspect it will go down as a pivotal book in poverty policy. Researchers collected financial diaries on the daily financial transactions of hundreds of poor families in India, Bangladesh, and South…
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Human rights are the wrong basis for healthcare
Financial Times: Human rights are the wrong basis for healthcare William Easterly The agonising US healthcare debate has taken on a new moral tone. President Barack Obama recently held a conference call with religious leaders in which he called healthcare “a core ethical and moral obligation”. Even Sarah Palin felt obliged to concede: “Each of…
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Didn’t we try that in 1938? Why technical poverty fixes fall short
Aid Watch (William Easterly): Didn't we try that in 1938? Why technical poverty fixes fall short … (A longer version of this table and the citations for the quotes appear in my recent article “Can the West Save Africa?” in the Journal of Economic Literature.) [See page 31 in the report.] Enthusiasts for technology fixes…
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The Tragedy of the Millennium Development Goals
Aid Watch: The Tragedy of the Millennium Development Goals Let’s face it: it’s over. The MDGs will not be met (the above statement was based on trends BEFORE the economic crisis hit, see crisis discussion below). What went wrong? The UN was very successful in getting lots of people interested in global poverty who had…
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Response to MV tourism operator on “Should starving people be tourist attractions?”
Aid Watch (William Easterly): Response to MV tourism operator on “Should starving people be tourist attractions?” … I have considered your letter and these other responses carefully, and I am open to the possibility that I was wrong. In the end, however, I don’t find your responses or others have really addressed my central concern…