Yes, this is one case. Yes, this is an annecdote. But case studies, stories, and annecdotes do have value. They give us deapth, experience, and highlight issues/ideas that a purely quantitative perspective would miss.

I am all for statistical analysis. Better yet, mixed methods. But please remember that there is more than one way of getting at what matters.

Well I spent a few months unemployed here in the UK and I felt pretty undervalued , pretty quickly. I think one of the things we have to learn from Africa is how to find true value.

Funny how libertrians are using half truths peddled by some of Bill’s proteges to bite him in the ass. Someone had better tell this individual that it is the government of china and not “foreign investors” that are responsible for those “odd billion jobs”

See the Stiglitz-chaired Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress for useful consideration of alternatives http://www.stiglitz-sen-fitoussi.fr/en/index.htm

I disagree, who said a tourism company could sustain the whole of africa? What can? Would anything of that nature be expected in the West even? (I can’t think of any one thing in the UK that sustains the Entire country, let alone a continent!??). Surely, the point is specifically targeted change/aid/development (however you want to call it) that makes a difference. If you have a job it makes a difference to You and your family/friends and those you come in contact with (both in terms of adding something to society, having money to spend etc.), and although you are an individual it affects the society at large. It is the sum of each individual that adds up to “a society” – so I cannot see how, if this programme is making a difference to some communities, it is pointless because it doesn’t sustain the entire continent. Without sounding overly cliched, and taking on board the necessity of broader macro-level change/aid flows, it is still a truism that small change is part Of larger change.

Re it being poverty porn – isn’t that taking the whole “tourism is the pit of hell itself!” angle a bit too far? I think the dev field suffers when it becomes so PC it is indistinguishable from cultural relativism. Come on, the people in these countries aren’t always/necessarily the naive and completely voiceless people it seems they are so often labeled as. In the case of TEFSA, it would appear to work well, so why does it have to be compared to one that doesn’t work well? That’s like saying ‘I’m not buying one type of computer’, because ‘this other type is always breaking’.

Re: How do you distinguish between ‘cultural education’ and ‘poverty porn’ – I would say it has a lot to do with the tour/place in question, how slums are viewed and how the locals (both genders) feel about it. My background is with India, not Africa, and in my experience, Indians (including those living in the slums) are generally quite happy to show people around the slums or other poor areas (regardless of my Own reticence to such an endevour) and 2) while many people want to leave the slums, of course, others do choose to stay – even after changes in income – due to their relations with their neighbours, and indeed the slums are microcosms of entire diverse/working communities. (see one tour below which gives 80% to local NGOS/charities working with the slums)
http://www.realitytoursandtravel.com/default.html
http://travelhappy.info/other-destinations/slum-tours-in-india/
“It seemed to me that the purpose of the tour was not to generate pity, but understanding.”
-Smithsonian Magazine (USA)

Does that mean I think the existence of slums is ok? (no, clearly the aim is better housing for all and eradication of poverty), but the point is that, in this case, the people of India place a Lot of emphasis on community, social engagement and being around people – perhaps due to it being such a diverse and largely populated country – are very entrepreneurial, and are usually keen to show all the aspects of India (poor and rich).

Re the link above, before you judge it too harshly, you might want to look at the ’staff’ and FAQ page. Like you, I’m also critical about a lot of tourism projects – and I think it’s right to be so (e.g. I’m not a fan of many ‘eco-tourism’ tours) – but surely each tourism project needs to be judged on its own merits with regard to the locals in question – like Any other project would be and not in terms of its worth to an entire country (let alone continent!?)

I also don’t understand why it ’s important to be ethiopian owned. If I open a guesthouse in Africa, is that supposed to be less good according to Prof. Easterly? but when I die and the guesthouse goes to my kids – with African citizenship- the same investment is suddenly so much better?

Maybe Prof. Easterly hasn’t noticed, but foreign investors – without a penny of aid – seem to do a pretty decent job in creating wealth for the odd billion poor Chinese.
But indeed, let’s “buy american” in the US, and go Ethiopian in Ethiopia.
Next year Prof. Easterly should go hiking in N-Korea. There must be goldmines of happiness to found as well. Can’t wait for the report.

And it’s a real pity Prof. Easterly didn’t collect anecdotal evidence concerning the auction system for commodities that was the subject of a previous post here. He must have had the chance to ask the farmgate prices for coffee, wheat, etc. , who was buying, the government meddling, etc.

The happinesss monitoring racket is the most autistic branch of experimental economics.