Digital Archive....

Bloomberg News, sent from my iPad. Jobs, Who Built Most Valuable Technology Company, Dies at 56 Oct. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Steve Jobs, who built the world's most valuable technology company by creating devices that changed how people use electronics and revolutionized the computer, music and mobile-phone industries, died. He was 56. Jobs, who resigned as Apple Inc. chief executive officer on Aug. 24, 2011, passed away yesterday, the Cupertino, California- based company said. He was diagnosed in 2003 with a neuroendocrine tumor, a rare form of pancreatic cancer, and had a liver transplant in 2009. "We are deeply saddened to announce that Steve Jobs passed away," Apple said. "Steve's brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives. The world is immeasurably better because of Steve." Jobs embodied the Sili...

Bloomberg News, sent from my iPad. China's Fall, Not Its Rise, Is the Real Global Threat: View Oct. 4 (Bloomberg) -- China's rise to global prominence has long preoccupied the leaders of the developed world. They should be more concerned about what happens if the country's growth falters. With its combination of cheap labor, easy money, undervalued currency, heavy investment in manufacturing and focus on exports, the nation of 1.3 billion has built an impressive economic engine. From 2008 through 2010, China contributed more than 40 percent of the world's growth. But the Chinese model has its limits, and that has far- reaching consequences for the U.S. and Europe, both of which are increasingly dependent on China. The country's share of global exports already exceeds 10 percent, larger than that of Japan at its peak in 1986. Barring some miracle, Chinese exporters can't expand their market shar...

Unintended consequences of food aid Chris Blattman Give cash or food? Both types of transfers increase the demand for normal goods, but only in-kind transfers also increase supply. Hence, in-kind transfers should lead to lower prices than cash transfers, which helps consumers at the expense of local producers. We test and confirm this prediction using a program in Mexico that randomly assigned villages to receive boxes of food (trucked into the village), equivalently-valued cash transfers, or no transfers. The pecuniary benefit to consumers of in-kind transfers, relative to cash transfers, equals 11% of the direct transfer. A new paper . Not surprising, but never quite proven. Or quantified.   Sent with Reeder  

Changing nature of aid Global development news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk In the future we are likely to see a shift in development co-operation, which could be a welcome change for development policy The distribution of poor people in the world has changed . The increase in the national income in populous countries such as China, India and Brazil means that the majority of the world's poor people now live in middle-income countries. International development policy is still coming to terms with what that means. Particularly with whether or not we still need to bother with providing aid to countries like India . The argument is that if these countries have a large enough economy to graduate from the low-income development category and sustain nuclear programmes, then they do not need development assistance from countries like the UK, which face their own deficit issues. It would appear aid is a growing irrelevance in these countries. To para...

Zimbabwe introduces cash transfer scheme Global development news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk Education assistance and child protection and cash transfers at core of national action plan for orphans and vulnerable children Zimbabwe has launched a $75m plan to protect orphans and vulnerable children over the next three years. The money will come from the Zimbabwean government and donors, including the UK, the European Commission and the UN children's agency, Unicef. Some $45m of the money for a child protection fund has been raised from donors, leaving a $30m shortfall that will need to be covered before full national coverage can be ensured. The scheme is part of a national action plan for orphans and vulnerable children that involves education assistance, child protection and cash transfers to the poorest families. Cash transfers have been tried with some success in Brazil, Mexico and South Africa. Zimbabwe is the latest country to adopt th...

To Spend Out, or Not To Spend Out? What Every Foundation Should Ask Itself SSIR Opinion & Analysis To spend out, or not to spend out, that is the question for foundations. Or, at least, that should be the question. While we at the Institute for Philanthropy are not advocates of one answer or the other, we believe it s beneficial for foundations to have this debate. Currently, there are very few foundations in the US and the UK that choose to spend down their endowments within a fixed time frame, as opposed to maintaining them in perpetuity. In the US, it is of course mandatory for foundations to pay out 5 percent of their endowments each year, and in the UK there has been much advocacy—so far resisted by the nation's lawmakers—for the introduction of a similar requirement. What this implies is that, in both jurisdictions, there is a keen sense that there should be an onus on foundations to make grants—that there should be an impetus towards socia...

Infographic: Kenya Mobile Subscribers, Penetration & Internet White African The research team at the iHub put together some stats on mobile numbers in Kenya. A special nod to Leo Mutuku for gathering it all from so many sources, and to Patrick Munyi for creating this cool visualization of it. Check out the iHub blog post to read the rest. Look for more infographics on the other East African countries soon. Sent with Reeder