(June 1, 2009) Bill Easterly takes a complex problem, African poverty, and tries to reduce it to a single factor: "the consensus among most academic economists is that destructive governments rather than destructive geography explain the poverty of nations." This is a strange assertion. Geography and government policies both matter.
Governments struggle to assess aid effectively
(June 2, 2009) After the heated rhetoric on FT.com from such eminent experts as Jeffrey Sachs and William Easterley about Dambiso Moyo’s book , Dead Aid , Mo Ibrahim is to be congratulated for restoring sober thought and analysis to the debate about the value of aid.
Lost in the tropics: Sachs’ misguided African geography
The debate on aid to Africa continues. This column argues that it is bad governments and institutions that cause poverty, not bad geography. Making sure aid reaches the poor will often mean not giving it to poor governments.
‘Trade is not aid’
After years when billions have been spent on aid in Africa, donors are now picking up on a new trend to put their money on the continent’s entrepreneurs.
Academics debate the environmental wisdom of mega-projects
(June 2, 2009) A recent article in the Taipei Times examining the mounting criticism facing the Chinese government in its pursuit of massive infrastructure projects.
Africa’s ‘dead aid’
(June 2, 2009) Two well-meaning members of the Western establishment, whose advice over the decades has, as much as anyone’s, brought the Third World to its knees, both believe the Third World needs more of their advice. Though at last night’s Munk Debate, prominent African author and economist Dambisa Moyo passionately disagreed.
Where has all the money gone?
(June 2, 2009) A recent article by Lord Aikins Adusei in the Zimbabwe Observer asks some pointed questions of the international aid agencies and developed banks. After nearly 50 years and billions of dollars in loans and grants, he says, Africa remains a poverty-striken continent, rife with corruption and political instability.
Rethinking Aid
(June 1, 2009) Steve Forbes delves into situations where microfinance and venture capitalism can succeed instead of aid.
‘Dead Aid’ is dead wrong
(May 31, 2009) In her new book, Dead Aid, Dambisa Moyo claims that aid to Africa has done nothing to alleviate poverty on the continent and it should be shut off in five years.
International aid: Help or handout?
(May 30, 2009) If international aid worked then Africa, South America and Asia would be rich and Bob Geldof could retire. When a Zambian-born economist like Dambisa Moyo, in a much-debated new book, says aid is part of the problem, and gets a round of applause from many Africans, it is time to listen, although not to agree.
Why aid to Africa must stop: Interview with Dambisa Moyo
(May 30, 2009) Born and raised in Zambia but educated at Oxford and Harvard, Dambisa Moyo was an uncommon face as a black woman in the world of high finance. Now, as she makes her way to Canada for a highly anticipated debate on Monday with Stephen Lewis and others at the Munk Debate on Foreign Aid, she spoke with the National Post about her ideas and the hazards of opposing the aid orthodoxy.
Geography lessons: correcting Sachs on African economic development
(May 29, 2009) Professor Jeffrey Sachs continues the debate on aid to Africa originally prompted by Dambisa Moyo’s book Dead Aid. As usual, I will of course let Dr. Moyo defend herself against specific criticisms made by Sachs and his co-author John McArthur. But Sachs unveils such a strange geographic theory of Africa’s poverty, with strong implications for aid policy, that I am forced to respond.
Moyo’s confused attack on aid for Africa
(May 29, 2009) Aid critics have recently been blaming aid as the source of Africa’s poverty. This column explains how Africa has long been struggling with rural poverty, tropical diseases, illiteracy, and lack of infrastructure and that the right solution is to help address these critical needs through transparent and targeted public and private investments. This includes both more aid and more market financing.
China on the Mekong: Stonewalling will burst the dam of diplomacy
(May 28, 2009) The Chinese government is sending out signals—albeit small ones— that it may start addressing issues relating to dams on the Mekong River.
Giant "Dam Home Depot" banner flies over Atlanta during company’s annual shareholder meeting
(May 28, 2009) Early this morning the nonprofit environmental organization International Rivers flew a giant "Dam Home Depot" banner over the company’s annual shareholder meeting in Atlanta. Protesters also unfurled a banner and raised questions inside the shareholder’s meeting, asking Home Depot executives to account for their role in supporting the destruction of Patagonia.
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