Comments on: Actionable ideas for shared prosperity

By: From Poverty to Power by Duncan Green » Blog Archive » Bureaucrats; discussants; climate-beating technologies; development lists; books save lives; Banksy and the Manganiyar Seduction: links I liked

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 09:01:54 +0000

[...] Time for some development lists: Nancy Birdsall and Owen Barder give their top ten things to do now to speed up development [...]

By: So Many Links « The Everyday Idealist

So Many Links « The Everyday Idealist — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 22:38:11 +0000

[...] A bunch of actionable ideas for development [...]

By: Jeff

Jeff — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 18:53:34 +0000

I know about programs around conditional cash transfers, but no programs that I am aware of to transfer cash on the basis of a guaranteed minimum income. Please tell me where these exist and what the mechanics are. FYI long ago when I worked in northern Mali, the Cooperation Suisse experimented with a program giving out cash unconditionally to villagers. The only discernable impact was an increase in the number of men taking second wives. If we start handing out cash, let’s make sure we give it to the women.

By: C Montes

C Montes — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 22:18:04 +0000

4. very nice but can’t be done

I find 5. and 6. very original. Well done! And predictably I think 10 would not make any difference

By: Jeff

Jeff — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 18:48:58 +0000

That’s a full list. Where do I go to read more on the ideas and mechanisms behind the ideas? #5 strikes me as rather pie in the sky… How do we determine the minimum? Where does the cash come from to make up the minimum? How is it delivered? UN’s peacekeeping track record makes me unenthusiastic about #8.

Hi Jeff – I regret to say that there is not a sufficient number of people researching ideas for development other than the huge army of people working on aid. The best by far is the Center for Global Development in Washington.

Five years ago, the idea of cash transfers would have seemed outlandish. Today it is becoming mainstream, with cash transfer programmes in more and more developing countries. So far from pie in the sky, it is gradually happening though not fast and systematically enough.

Many of the UN’s peacekeeping failings relate to the difficulty it has raising and deploying troops, given the intervention of national governments. That’s precisely why it would be better to have a standing, professional army.

By: April

April — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 13:01:14 +0000

Perhaps not surprisingly, I agree with both your list and Nancy’s.

One reservation I have about making the G-20 representative (on a population basis, which is part of what Rueda-Sabater et al are arguing)….would we not want to distinguish between governments which have a stronger vs weaker claim to speaking for their populations?
International political economy is not my field, but I don’t feel that authoritarian regimes should have as much of a voice in “global governance”. If they aren’t elected, and their citizen’s don’t have access to good information about their government’s actions….how can the government really be speaking for them? And I see the aim of reforming the G-20 (and other institutions important for global governance) as precisely to make them more representative of the population of the world.

It’s not directly related to your list, but you made me think of it. So I thought I’d post it.