powerpoint could lose the US the war in Afghanistan Bill Easterly and Laura Freschi argue that ‘failed states’ are a failed concept ‘Liberal democracy is not merely suffering political reverses, it is also in intellectual retreat.’ This week’s Economist gets alarmed at what it sees as recent setbacks in electoral democracy worldwide, based on the latest report from thinktank ‘Freedom House’ (admittedly right wing and with a very narrow definition of what constitutes democracy) putting the number of electoral democracies at its lowest since 1995. I’ve been hearing various rave reviews about London Citizens, a grassroots organization set up by the people who gave Barrack Obama his start as a community organizer back in 1980s Chicago. Check out this piece by former UK cabinet minister turned intellectual James Purnell [h/t Stefan Baskerville] Deborah Brautigam on what the West can learn from Chinese investment in Africa [h/t Hugo Sintes] ‘The Biggest Idea in Development that No One Really Tried’: CGD’s Michael Clemens gives a nice (but 25 minute long) lecture on the link between migration and development, and knocking down the anti-migration counterarguments [h/t Jo Rowlands] And just because it’s January, everyone’s coughing and blowing their noses, and I have to keep sending people this link, here’s the beginner’s guide to a neglected medical condition that bizarrely only affects half the population – manflu….. ]]>
Great to see that the work of the great late community organising guru, Saul Alinsky, is taking root in the UK through London Citizens. I like the campaign on ‘usury’ – a good theological concept that needs a modern life!