Digital Archive....

Paul Krugman: The New Voodoo Economist's View Republicans used to claim that tax cuts paid for themselves so that they could rail against the deficit and cut taxes at the same time. Though some in the GOP still resort to this defense of tax cuts, now that the "tax cuts pay for themselves" myth has been exposed, Republicans are turning to a new defense of simultaneously cutting taxes and giving "impassioned speeches denouncing federal red ink" that is every bit as flimsy as the old one: The New Voodoo, by Paul Krugman, Commentary, NY Times : Hypocrisy never goes out of style, but, even so, 2010 was something special. For it was the year of budget doubletalk — the year of ... railing against deficits while doing everything they could to make those deficits bigger. ... In the first half of 2010, impassioned speeches denouncing federal red ink were the G.O.P. norm. And concerns about the deficit were the stated reason for Re...

Why Can't Europe Avoid Another Crisis? Why Can't the U.S.? The Baseline Scenario By Simon Johnson Most experienced watchers of the eurozone are expecting another serious crisis to break out in early 2011.  This projected crisis is tied to the rollover funding needs of weaker eurozone governments, i.e., debts falling due in March through May, and therefore seems much more predictable than what happened to Greece or Ireland in 2010.  The investment bankers who fell over themselves to lend to these countries on the way up, now lead the way in talking up the prospects for a serious crisis. This crisis is not more preventable for being predictable because its resolution will involve politically costly steps – which, given how Europe works, can only be taken under duress.  And don't smile as you read this, because this same logic points directly to a deep and morally disturbing crisis heading directly at the United States. The eurozone needs to – and...

It's time to focus on poor people – not poor countries Global development news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk A new approach to reducing poverty is needed in 2011 if people are not to be left behind while their countries get steadily richer One little noticed story of 2010 was that five more developing countries officially lost their "poor" status. When the World Bank carried out its annual reclassification in July, Senegal, Tuvalu, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Yemen all graduated to middle-income status – countries that have reached the $1,000 (£644) or so GDP threshold. Taken by themselves, not big news perhaps, but add to that 22 other countries which, since 2000, are no longer considered officially poor, then a quite profound global change is under way: in short, most of the world's poor no longer live in "poor" countries. China was upgraded in 2001 (based on 1999 data) and India, Pakistan, Nigeria and Indonesia are among the o...

Sachs: America's Political Class Struggle Economist's View Jeff Sachs says the "level of political corruption in America is staggering," and that "powerful forces, many of which operate anonymously under US law, are working relentlessly to defend those at the top of the income distribution. ... The Republican Party's real game is to try to lock that income and wealth advantage into place." However, while the "rich will try to push such an agenda,... ultimately they will fail": America's Political Class Struggle. by Jeffrey D. Sachs, Commentary, Project Syndicate : ...This month's deal ... to extend the tax cuts initiated a decade ago by President George W. Bush is being hailed as the start of a new bipartisan consensus. I believe, instead, that it is a false truce... Since Ronald Reagan became President in 1981, America's budget system has been geared to supporting the accumulation of vast wea...

Mobius Motors & Car Manufacturing Timbuktu Chronicles A welcome addition to the space of vehicle manufacturing , Mobius Motors. NextBillion interviews the founder Joel Jackson, of on the reasons behind starting the company: Mobius One ...we must re-imagine the car . Mobius simplifies its vehicles by removing expensive technologies such as air conditioning, interior fixtures and even glass windows while still maximizing function with good suspension, handling and storage. We also simplify our production process by integrating off-the-shelf parts within a durable and safe tubular steel frame. The result: low-cost high-functioning modular vehicles built specifically for the needs of developing world consumers. In short, a platform for mobility. More here Sent with Reeder  

"Once Upon a Professor: The Christmas Debate Story" Economist's View William Easterly: Once upon a Professor: the Christmas Debate Story, by William Easterly : Once upon a time, four Professors met to agree upon a Christmas Gift Policy. 'Twas fortunate for the world that they met thus, for they were the world's foremost Gift Experts. Professor A said he already knew what everybody wanted, and wanted to massively increase financing for the International Fund for Christmas and Development, which will come up with a comprehensive plan for all the complementary technical inputs to deliver the correct gifts to all individuals. Professor B was worried about the lack of child security inside homes, and wanted a G8 rapid response force to intervene and take custody of the children, after which their needs for Christmas gifts will be identified and met. Professor C called for a randomized trial of the leading 3 types of C...

Nudges for Development Innovations for Poverty Action Blog Sadly there was no randomized evaluation, so we can't be sure. But there are good reasons to believe that Malawi's national fertilizer subsidy scheme has been successful in increasing agricultural production.   One of the main concerns of critics is the sheer cost of the scheme. In Malawi around 9% of all government spending is going on the subsidy. What if we could get similar results for next to nothing? That is pretty much what Esther Duflo, Michael Kremer, and Jonathan Robinson found in Kenya . They thought that farmers might be under-investing in fertilizer due to procrastination and impatience rather than the cost. They offered farmers the chance to buy a fertilizer voucher at harvest time when they were flush with cash, for use later on during the next planting season.  The program was popular and significantly increased fertilizer usage. The effect was actually larger tha...

Transparency will make aid work better | Owen Barder Global development news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk A global standard on sharing information is at the heart of democratising aid – for donors and for recipients This month the US Agency for International Development said it expects to publish details of its aid programmes in a form accessible to people in developing countries and US taxpayers. The EU Foreign Affairs Council has also agreed that member states will publish details of their aid in an internationally comparable format. And from next year, the donors who provide at least two-thirds of aid to less developed countries will publish detailed, up-to-date information about aid through the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI). The first part of this new global standard was agreed in July. The UK, which, with the UNDP, Sweden and the Netherlands, has played a leading role in this initiative, will have its first data online early...

Microfinance: Development panacea, or exorbitant, ineffective poverty trap? | Madeleine Bunting Global development news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk Microfinance schemes are under fire as a new law looks to regulate the sector in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh Microfinance has had a star billing as one of the most popular development policies of the last two decades. But crisis has struck the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, the hub of the country's multibillion dollar microfinance sector. Events are being followed closely after the state legislature passed a controversial law to regulate microfinance firms . To critics, the law represents a disastrous politicisation of the microfinance industry, which will effectively authorise mass defaults and could cripple the sector; already, collections of dues has fallen to below 10%. To backers of the law, it's an attempt to rein back the worst excesses of an industry which, it is claimed, is chargin...

To give conditionally or unconditionally? Chris Blattman That is the question: …we evaluate a unique cash transfer experiment targeted at adolescent girls in Malawi that featured both a conditional (CCT) and an unconditional (UCT) treatment arm. We find that while there was a modest improvement in school enrollment in the UCT arm in comparison to the control group, this increase is only 43% as large as the CCT arm. The schooling condition, however, proved costly for important non-schooling outcomes: teenage pregnancy and marriage rates were substantially higher in the CCT than the UCT arm. Our findings suggest that a CCT program for early adolescents that transitions into a UCT for older teenagers would minimize this trade-off by improving schooling outcomes while avoiding the adverse impacts of conditionality on teenage pregnancy and marriage. A new paper from Sarah Baird, Craig McIntosh, and Berk Ozler. Sent with Reeder  

Powerful Ads: Lottery of Life (4 total) Alice's Posts - My Modern Metropolis Sometimes it takes powerful imagery like this to make us appreciate our lot in life. Called Lottery of Life , the side-by-side comparisons are for Save the Children , an independent organization about creating lasting change in the lives of children in need. When disaster strikes around the world, Save the Children is there to save lives with food, medical care and education and remains to help communities rebuild through long-term recovery programs. Advertising Agency: Lowe Brindfors, Sweden Creative Directors: Villard, Bartholf Copywriter: Stefan Pagreus Art Directors: Pelle Lundquist, Emmeli Österdahl Photographer: Stockfoto Typographer: Ola Lanteli The Lottery of Life Sent with Reeder  

BrandOutLoud: Eigen branding maakt lokale NGO's minder afhankelijk Vice Versa - vakblad over ontwikkelingssamenwerking Lokale hulporganisaties leunen vaak te sterk op fondsen vanuit internationale NGO's. De aangekondigde bezuinigingen in Nederland zullen aanleiding zijn om na te gaan denken over de vraag hoe Internationale NGO's met minder geld hun lokale partners kunnen blijven helpen. Non-profit organisatie BrandOutLoud stelt een nieuwe benadering van ontwikkelingshulp voor: lokale hulporganisaties zelfstandiger maken door branding en marketing. Door: Stéphanie Zimmerman en Judith Madigan (BrandOutLoud) Dat bezuinigingen ook ruimte kunnen bieden voor positieve verandering, is een geluid dat langzaam terrein begint te winnen in de wereld van ontwikkelingssamenwerking. Ook op viceversaonline is deze discussie gestart door ondermeer Michel Groenenstijn , Marloes Tap en Gaston Schmitz . Directe financiering is een optie, zoals ook decentralisatie...

Marc Wesseling (Mango Capital): 'Ontwikkelingslanden hebben baat bij de traditionele ontwikkelingshulp' Vice Versa - vakblad over ontwikkelingssamenwerking Marc Wesseling heeft gewoond in Oeganda, Tanzania, Kongo, Libië en Kenia en is sinds 2006 directeur van het Mango Capital. Dit beleggingsfonds richt zich op Afrika en het Midden Oosten. Wesseling is uiteraard voorstander van het nieuwe beleid van investeren in het bedrijfsleven van ontwikkelingslanden. Toch benadrukt hij ook juist het belang van het behouden van traditionele ontwikkelingshulp. De bedrijven waarin Mango Capital investeert zijn allemaal beursgenoteerde bedrijven. Op de vraag om wat voor een soort bedrijven het gaat, spreekt Wesseling uit dat het niet alleen gaat om lokale gerunde bedrijven maar vooral ook om diverse westerse multinationals die in de gebieden gevestigd zijn. Dat het investeren in grote multinationals zal leiden tot scheve machtsverhouding en daar uit voortkomende uitbu...

Jack van Ham: 'Flinkheid tolereert weinig tegenspraak' Vice Versa - vakblad over ontwikkelingssamenwerking Na 40 jaar samenwerking met de overheid hebben ontwikkelingsorganisaties er recht op dat ze veranderingen op een fatsoenlijke manier kunnen invoeren. Dat stukje beschaving moet toch overeind te houden zijn, betoogt scheidend ICCO-topman Jack van Ham. Het is volgens hem tijd voor een ferme tegenreactie van het totale maatschappelijke middenveld en de oppositiepartijen in de Tweede Kamer. 'Ik weet het, linkse mensen zijn over het algemeen niet zulke sterke verliezers, maar het misstaat niemand nog een graadje van deugdelijkheid en fatsoen over te houden.' Door:  Jack van Ham Voor ontwikkelingssamenwerking lijkt met de Kamerstemmingen de teerling geworpen. De rook trekt langzaam op en we zien de contouren van het 'nieuwe beleid' geleidelijk vorm krijgen. Procentueel lijkt de inspanning van Nederland 'gered' van de oorspronkel...

The Charitable Deduction Greg Mankiw's Blog Richard Thaler takes on the tax deduction for charitable giving .  He suggests that there is little reason for it and that a refundable tax credit would be more justified. I think there is a bit more logic to current policy than Thaler does.  Suppose you believe, as I do, that consumption is a better tax base than is income.  Then, starting with a measurement of income, it makes sense to allow deductions for "non-consumed income"--specifically, saving such as IRA and 401k contributions and charitable giving. Some may argue that giving to charity is itself a form of consumption.  After all, the person who gives is doing so voluntarily, so there must be some utility to the giver.  Perhaps, but there seems something fundmentally different about consumption in the form of charitable giving and consumption in the form of large homes and fast...

ICC accuses six Kenyans of crimes against humanity during 2007 violence Global development news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk • Deputy prime minister is among suspects named • More than 1,000 died in ethnic attacks and riots Six of Kenya's most powerful men, including the son of founding president Jomo Kenyatta, two cabinet ministers, the head of the civil service and a former police chief, have been formally accused by the international criminal court of committing "massive crimes" during the 2007 election crisis. Uhuru Kenyatta, the current deputy prime minister and finance minister, was the highest-profile of six suspects for whom indictments were sought by prosecutors in The Hague today. In a case that strikes at the very heart of the government, he was accused of murder, rape, deportation and persecution , together with Francis Muthaura – a close aide and gatekeeper of the president, Mwai Kibaki – and the former police chief Hussein A...

The Effects of WikiLeaks on Those Who Work at the State Department Opinio Juris by Samuel Witten Samuel Witten is counsel at the law firm Arnold & Porter LLP. He worked at the State Department for 22 years, including six years as Deputy Legal Adviser (2001-2007) and three years as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration (2007-2010). The world's attention has been riveted on the potential foreign policy implications of the recent WikiLeaks disclosures. How will the disclosure of candid comments by Saudi leaders about Iran affect the political and military dynamic of the region? Will U.S. cooperation with Yemen become even more complicated by disclosures of cables about U.S. dialogue with President Saleh? What consequences might there be for current tensions on the North Korean peninsula if sensitive discussions about the region and the Six-Party talks are disclosed to the general public? What can be done to ...