Thilo Thielke in Der Spiegel yesterday: Development aid is a planned economy, even if it doesn’t have a plan. The belief that food shortages can be overcome in a planned economy is one that has already proved disastrously wrong in the former Soviet Union, North Korea and Cuba. One has Read more…
I’m in Tanzania accompanying my partner to the gathering of all the Marie Stopes Country Directors and honchos from headquarters. These people are seriously impressive. People like me write policy papers, attend conferences, and have opinions about how things work, or should work. These people, by contrast, set up and Read more…
Flying in to Addis on Monday morning we flew over Lake Tana, the source of the Blue Nile and readily identifiable by its distinctive shape. It was a nice reminder to me of the wealth of natural resources that this beautiful country has to offer. Addis is a huge building Read more…
I am sitting at Heathrow airport, on my way to Ethiopia. It is a big change to move away from home for 3 years. I am excited, as I love Ethiopia; but I am also a bit apprehensive about how much our lives will change.
According to Mary Riddell in The Observer Gordon Brown is thinking of transferring to parliament some or all of the powers currently exercised under the Royal Prerogative: The reform programme he is hatching will give some prerogative powers of the head of state to Parliament standing above government and the Read more…
I was pondering for a presentation on Thursday why it is that inequality between countries has grown so markedly over the last 100 years. There are many reasons why the richer countries have grown, but it is harder to explain why poor countries do not catch up as quickly as Read more…
Much to the derision of my younger colleagues, we went to see Bryan Adams at Wembley Arena last night. (I went with James – my oldest schoolfriend – who was reluctantly dragged along by his wife Becky. G is in Tanzania.) I had low expectations – I wasn’t sure that Read more…
I’ve just heard Jack Straw tell the Today programme that one of Mr Blair’s great successes was to persuade the United States at Gleneagles to increase aid to Africa. The transcript of the briefing by US officials on Air Force One going home from Gleneagles says different.
One of Tony Blair’s blind spots – as I think he would be among the first to admit – is that he has tended to underestimate the importance and value of effective and lasting institutions. As he contemplates his legacy he seems now to be coming round to understanding this. Read more…
You must read this article by Naomi Wolf in the Guardian From Hitler to Pinochet and beyond, history shows there are certain steps that any would-be dictator must take to destroy constitutional freedoms. And, argues Naomi Wolf, George Bush and his administration seem to be taking them all