December 21, 2005
Defending TIME's Persons of the Year
Within days of Paul Theroux's misguided complaining about Bono and Bill Gates (see The Novelist's Burden), they and Melinda Gates were named TIME Magazine Persons of the Year.
Views from the Center
December 16, 2005
The Novelist's Burden
Paul Theroux has written an entertaining but misguided screed against Bono and foreign aid in general in yesterday's New York Times titled The Rock Star’s Burden (login required)
December 13, 2005
Food Aid in Perspective
Reuters is reporting from Hong Kong that a food aid fight between the U.S. and the Europeans has darkened the mood as trade talks get underway in Hong Kong.
December 12, 2005
Should USAID be Moved to the State Department?
A story by Guy Dinmore in the Financial Times (Bush Plans Overhaul of US Foreign Aid System) makes public a rumor that has been circulating in Washington for months: The Bush administration is planning a sweeping reform of U.S. foreign assistance, including bringing USAID under the authority of the State Department.
December 8, 2005
Better Ways to Measure Aid Quality?
We at CGD, inspired by queries and suggestions from our local partners in the NGO world, including especially David Beckman, President of Bread for the World, are beginning to consider how we might construct a measure of the quality (beyond the quantity) of the aid programs of the major donors.
December 8, 2005
The Nigerian Debt Deal and its Critics
The Guardian is reporting that “The British government has drawn sharp criticism from development charities for taking a debt repayment from Nigeria” worth about £1.7 billion. It is true that the size of the payment from Nigeria to the UK treasury might seem strange given the recent push by Blair and Brown to increase aid to Africa.
December 7, 2005
Are Low Prices Really Bad for the Poor?
Martina Gernet has posted on Eldis a summary of several recent studies of the role of supermarkets in developing countries. All of them appear to be about the bad effects of supermarkets on workers and suppliers. I continue to be astonished by how the debate over the impact of supermarkets always ignores the huge gains in welfare of consumers, especially poor consumers.
November 22, 2005
A new way of tracking earthquake relief
According to this Reuters article, “Quake-stricken Pakistan heaved a sigh of relief” when donors offered Islamabad some $6 billion in aid pledges this weekend. If anyone is heaving sighs of relief, it’s likely to be the donors, who have finally reinvigorated a global response that Kofi Annan has called “weak and tardy” (Seattle Times).
August 29, 2005
Poverty and the Social Sectors: The World Bank in Pakistan 1990-2003
This report by Nancy Birdsall, Adeel Malik and Milan Vaishnav was prepared for the World Bank's Operations Evaluation Department. The report focuses on the role of the World Bank in support of poverty reduction during the period beginning in 1990 and concluding in 2003. It reviews and discusses the Bank's analytic work and its efforts to bring change through policy dialogue and lending programs.
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