Owen Barder

Here is Beth Barnes of Exeter College on the difference that effective altruism could make:

The Secretary of State for International Development is missing from a number of key Cabinet Committees and task forces on which a development perspective would be useful.

We are enthusiastic about the growing interest in supporting private investment in developing countries, but it matters a lot how this is done. The tools that donor countries usually use to “crowd in” the private sector — guarantees and cheap loans — distort firms’ incentives by reducing their risks or increasing their rewards irrespective of how well they do. Donors should not pick winners.

If economic development is a property of a complex adaptive system then what, if anything, can development agencies and NGOs do to accelerate it?

In the latest Development Drums podcast, I discuss behavioural economics with Varun Gauri, who was co-editor of the recent World Development Report, Mind Society and Behaviour.

Future development challenges cannot be tackled by aid alone. The biggest risk of the ringfence around the aid budget is that it will imprison us.

How to get Windows 8.1 to recognise my Apple iPod

One reason I love London is stumbling across art installations like this.

I’ve made some design changes to this blog. For those who are interested, here are the details.

How to manage a lot of email, using (mainly free) tools in Outlook.  Shows how to keep a “zero inbox”.  An approach loosely based on Getting Things Done.