Ideas to Action:
Independent research for global prosperity
Last week, Bill Easterly and colleagues formally launched the new Aid Watch initiative at the Development Research Institute at NYU. Aid Watch is meant to serve as an independent monitor of the aid practices of official development agencies, through research, events, and a blog.
Last week the German Marshall Fund released the report of a Transatlantic Task Force on Development. Formed in spring of 2008, the Task Force was led by former U.S. Congressman Jim Kolbe and Swedish Minister for International Development Gunilla Carlsson. Its purpose was to formulate a common U.S.-Europe development agenda, as a basis for renewed transatlantic cooperation in tackling global challenges. I was one of 22 European and American task force members.
President Barack Obama’s first address to a joint session of Congress on Feb. 24 isn’t officially a State of the Union Address, since he has just recently taken office. But it will look and sound exactly like a State of the Union, and that can mean only one thing: time for CGD’s ever popular State of the Union (SOTU) BINGO!
By providing fiscal stimulus and strengthening financial sector regulation, of course. But that may not be enough. Will the U.S. and the Europeans also revisit the idea of a global social contract -- to protect millions of people losing their jobs in developing countries? In a speech I delivered to the Dutch Scientific Council in December, I argued that
From the headlines you would think Davos was mostly doom and gloom and blaming the bankers (and rough talk from Putin and between PM Erdogan of Turkey and Peres of Israel). Development was less visible this year than ever. As Simon Maxwell observed: No Bono. No Jeff Sachs. No Zoellick.
For development aficionados, here are three notes and quotes worth remembering. My last (and late) dispatch will be posted tomorrow, and will outline my main frustration at Davos this year.
When Michael Dell, founder and CEO of Dell Computer, Inc. asked Russian Prime Minister Vladimir "how can we help?" in Davos last week, Putin's response was terse:
Remember the Washington Consensus? I attended a Davos lunch on its meaning and its fate. (My table was expertly hosted by Kristin Forbes of CGD's advisory committee.
Here's a quick recap:
Is the Washington Consensus alive and well?
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