The World Bank tackles Mind and Culture: heads up on the next World Development Report

March 31, 2014
Even though annual reports by the many fragments of the multilateral system have proliferated in recent years (I can’t keep up any more), the World Bank’s World Development Report still stands head and shoulders above the rest. And the next one’s theme, WDR 2015: Mind and Culture, due out in November this year, is pretty eye catching. And welcome. There’s
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Have we just squandered a good crisis, and a golden opportunity to kick-start climate action?

March 28, 2014
For years I, along with others like Alex Evans, have been saying ‘the politics of global carbon reduction is stuck, it will require a major climate shock in the rich countries to unblock it’. The argument is that major scandals, crises etc are required to create a sense of urgency, undermine coalitions of blockers, and convince everyone that a new
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Can a Political Economy Approach explain aid donors’ reluctance to think and work politically? Guest post from Neil McCulloch

March 27, 2014
The more enlightened (in my view) aid types have been wagging their fingers for decades, telling their colleagues to adopt more politically literate approaches to their work. Why isn’t everyone convinced? Neil McCulloch applies a bit of political economy analysis to the aid business. Over the last fifteen years or more, a new approach to development assistance has been gaining
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Alternatives to Neoliberalism? A retro conversation with the British Left and Ha-Joon Chang

March 26, 2014
Had a fun and slightly retro evening last week launching ‘Critique, Influence, Change’, a new series of Zed Books (actually new editions of some of their old books), along with my friend and guru Ha-Joon Chang and Ellie Mae O’Hagan, a smart young Guardian columnist/activist in Occupy and UK Uncut. The Zed series includes a new edition of Ha-Joon’s 2004
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Why the system for managing the world’s food and climate needs to be more like my car

March 25, 2014
Today, Oxfam is publishing a briefing on its ‘food and climate justice’ campaign. Here’s a post I wrote for the launch. When I get into my car in London, I step into a system designed to get me safely from A to B. It has seat belts, airbags, and an increasing number of electronic warning devices. The traffic system has rules
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What have we learned on getting public services to poor people? What’s next?

March 24, 2014
Ten years after the World Development Report 2004, the ODI’s Marta Foresti reflects on the past decade and implications for the future Why do so many countries still fail to deliver adequate services to their citizens? And why does this problem persist even in countries with rapid economic growth and relatively robust institutions or policies? This was the problem addressed
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Killer factcheck: ‘Women own 2% of land’ = not true. What do we really know about women and land?

March 21, 2014
Cheryl Doss, a feminist economist at Yale University argues that (as with ‘70% of the world’s poor are women‘ ) we need to stop using the unfounded ‘women own 2% of the world’s farmland’ stat, and start using some of the real numbers that are emerging (while also demanding much better gender data). For advocates, nothing is better than having
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Is ‘Getting to Zero’ really feasible? The new Chronic Poverty Report

March 20, 2014
OK, I think we’ll draw a veil over the slightly disappointing migration wonkmassacre wonkfirstroundknockout wonkwar and get on with other stuff. The latest Chronic Poverty Report (2014-15) was released last week, and I urge you to take a look. It’s a goldmine of analysis, case studies and graphics (too many for this post, I’ll have to tweet the extras).  The subtitle,
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Migration and Development: Who Bears the Burden of Proof? Justin Sandefur replies to Paul Collier

March 19, 2014
Justin Sandefur responds to yesterday’s post by Paul Collier on the impact of migration on developing countries, and you get to vote The global diaspora of educated Africans, Asians, and Latin Americans living in the developed world stand accused of undermining the development of their countries of origin. Paul Collier’s recent book, Exodus, makes the case for strict ceilings on the
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How does emigration affect countries-of-origin? Paul Collier kicks off a debate on migration

March 18, 2014
Take a seat people, you’re in for a treat. Paul Collier kicks off an exchange with Justin Sandefur on that hottest of hot topics, migration. I’ve asked them to focus on the impact on poor countries, as most of the press debate concentrates on the impact in the North. Justin replies tomorrow and (if I can work the new software)
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Q: How many people is one rich man worth? A: 6.3 million. Extreme Inequality in the UK

March 17, 2014
Following his uber killer fact paper (assets of world’s 85 richest individuals = 3.5 billion poorest) Ricardo Fuentes (@rivefuentes) turns his jaundiced but numerate gaze to the UK (and triggers another media splash – see end for links) Economic inequality is much talked about these days. Two documents have made a splash over the last month: first, an IMF paper
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RIP Tony Benn

March 14, 2014
A few examples of his legacy (please add your own): his famous five questions to the powerful (via the Political Gates blog) and a plaque he had installed in a cupboard in the House of Commons, but first an interview with Michael Moore (h/t Ben Phillips)    
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