Politics
In the second of a series of three Development Drums podcasts about the relationship between citizens, states and development, Duncan Green talks about effective states and active citizens. Duncan is widely known for his terrific development blog; he is also the author of an ambitious book, From Poverty to Power, which is now out in its second edition.
Continue readingDavid Cameron said today "We can be the generation that eradicates absolute poverty in our world." We are not the first generation to think that we are the first generation that can eradicate poverty.
Continue readingTwo interesting ideas from economists on gun control. First: require gun owners to take out liability insurance. Second, create a fund which for every dollar the NRA pays to a political candidate would pay $2 to the opponent.
Continue readingSir Tim Lankester talked about the Pergau Dam affair at this event co-hosted by CGD in Europe and the Institute for Government. Watch the video here.
Continue readingThis second of three blog posts looking at development policy through the lens of complexity thinking considers whether David Cameron's 'golden thread' is good development policy.
Continue readingModest changes in immigration policies could have huge benefits for the people affected, but are perhaps small enough to be introduced below the radar, without great political risk. This blog posts lists four possible initiatives for the UK.
Continue readingNominations for the head of the World Bank have now closed, and there are three candidates:
- Jim Kim, nominated by the United States; President of Dartmouth College, former head of HIV at the World Health Organization, and a founder… Continue reading
The Guardian development blog is running a series of end of year reflections on development, including one by me. Many of the articles are upbeat about progress in developing countries, but pessimistic about the short term economic prospects for the industrialised world and for global cooperation to tackle shared global problems.
The series so far includes:
- Duncan Green from Oxfam, who contrasts progress in developing countries over the last year with the gloom of the ‘formerly rich’ countries of the G-8.
- Calestous Juma from Harvard, who identifies regional integration and better links with the diaspora as key drivers of Africa’s growth.
- Shanta Devarajan from the World Bank, who is cautiously optimistic, especially in the light of increased demand by Africans for their governments to be accountable.
- Linda Raftree from Plan, who also emphasizes progress towards more inclusive and open societies.
- Kevin Watkins from Brookings and UNESCO, calling for “a properly financed global fund for education like those that have delivered such striking results in the health sector“.
- Jonathan Glennie from ODI and the Guardian, who is pessimistic about the prospects for international cooperation in the face of rising protectionism and nationalism as a result of poor economic prospects in the US and Europe.
- and my contribution, reproduced below, which gives a positive account of progress in many countries in Africa over the past year, and emphasizes the importance for developing countries of better global decision-making.
This joint post with Stephanie Majerowicz first appeared on the Views from the Center blog at the Center for Global Development
“The defining division these days is increasingly: open or closed? Are we open to the changing world? Or do… Continue reading
This blog post first appeared on the Media and Government site. It suggests that new media is not just a faster and 24 hour news channel. The political economy of media is changing in three important ways.
Continue readingFrom the Financial Times comes news that David Cameron and Nick Clegg are planning to employ more political special advisers than the previous government; while the media and public try to work out whether there is anything improper about… Continue reading
This is very impressive. Here in the UK we do not have paid political advertising: instead political parties are given a limited number of slots on British TV for a ‘party political broadcast’ to put their point across.
This… Continue reading
This piece by Simon Kuper in the Weekend FT is so close to the bone it makes you wince:
I recently went on a business trip with three members of the British ruling classes. The late-night banter over drinks was… Continue reading
Development advocates have to make the case for aid. They are right to say that development is in the national interest of the donor, but it may be a mistake to put this at the centre of the argument. Most people don’t need to be convinced that development is desirable; they need to be convinced that aid works.
Continue readingSave the Children has today published a new report, <a href="http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/en/54_14725.htm">No Child Born to Die: Closing the Gaps</a>. This blog post looks at what is good about the report (most of it) but quibbles with the recommendations to prevent the recruitment of health workers by developed countries, and with the call to drive down vaccine prices.
Continue readingJudging by the 2010 Commitment to Development Index, the UK is doing a better job at securing and spending a rising aid budget than it is at getting the rest of government to pursue development-friendly policies.
Continue readingSince there will be a lot of politics on our TV screens in the next 48 hours, I should like to take this opportunity to… Continue reading
On January 13th, a leader in The Times and Kevin Watkins in The Guardian attacked the development policies of the UK Conservative Party, from opposite sides of the political spectrum. The Times Leader says that the Conservatives are wrong… Continue reading





















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