About Aid Watch
The Aid Watch blog is a project of New York University's Development Research Institute (DRI). This blog is principally written by William Easterly, author of "The Elusive Quest for Growth: Economists Adventures and Misadventures in the Tropics" and "The White Man's Burden: Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good," and Professor of Economics at NYU. It is co-written by Laura Freschi and by occasional guest bloggers. Our work is based on the idea that more aid will reach the poor the more people are watching aid.
“Conscience is the inner voice that warns us somebody may be looking.” - H.L. Mencken
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Recent Posts
Recent Comments
- Rebecca Burlingame on Be Careful What You Export: Oh so true that there are many things the developing world does not want from the...
- Tom on Be Careful What You Export: And that is without even thinking of the material dimension of institutional or organisational...
- Tim on Statement from CARE on Bruckner FOIA Request: Check out who is “Art Keys and Associates” and you will understand how...
- skeptic on Statement from CARE on Bruckner FOIA Request: Umm, why don’t they just release it themselves instead of asking USAID to...
- Andy on Be Careful What You Export: Very true, the lock-in nature of path dependent choices and the increasing returns these paths...
- Debrah Prada on Be Careful What You Export: I hope everyone GOVERNMENT could read this. Very well said.
Archives
Bill Easterly tweets
- Dear Aid Watchers, Laura and I are gone for a week, Adam Martin is Guest Editor, starting with today's great post http://bit.ly/ces1l3 02:12:45 PM August 30, 2010 from bitly
- Have a happy Last Week of the Summer 01:52:50 PM August 30, 2010 from web
- Beloved tweeps: I am going off line for a week in a last-ditch effort to regain my sanity, no more tweets from me till after Labor Day. 01:52:30 PM August 30, 2010 from web
- What to learn from those wacky animal-shaped Sudanese urban plans: rich country urban planners are just as wacky http://bit.ly/ces1l3 01:50:42 PM August 30, 2010 from bitly
Aid Watch tweets
- Be Careful What you Export: http://bit.ly/cE3e1v about 12 hours ago from web
- TransparencyBrawl 2010 continues: http://bit.ly/aG1ytu 08:18:35 PM September 01, 2010 from web
- Hayek vs. the Intellectuals, in technicolor! http://bit.ly/cSnS8m 11:25:39 AM September 01, 2010 from web
- Guest blog by Ben Powell on how to help the poor, just in time for going back to school: http://bit.ly/9pQfhi. 11:18:38 AM August 31, 2010 from web
Author Archives: Diane Bennett
Aid Watch Grinch Edition: Are We Mean to Ask that NGO Ads not be Simplistic and Wrong?
In the spirit of the holidays, let’s ponder the strategy of using forlorn children and their bellies for fund-raising, which seems to intensify each year around this time.
I was introduced to Skip1.org, a new marketing effort of the Children’s Hunger Fund by a friend over Thanksgiving dinner. I was pulled in by the simple message “Skip something. Feed a child.”
To illustrate this, the site has a video of plates of…
Giving Us Idiots More Credit than We Deserve
While not a complete idiot, I still find books in the “Complete Idiot’s Guide” series amusing and occasionally useful. So when The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Giving Back came out recently, I was curious to read the book’s recommendations.
The author outlines a process for deciding which causes to support, how much to give, and other factors to consider before giving a not-for-profit your hard-earned cash. Unfortunately, most idiots, and many other well-meaning…
Posted in Academic research
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Respecting local values: Western confusion about African orphans
When a remote area of South Sudan was resettling from the long-running civil war in 2001, tens of thousands of returnees were threatened by the upcoming rainy season without food. A small team was dispatched to assess and prioritize the needs of internally displaced people (IDPs) resettling in a corner of South Sudan. (Sudan continues to have the largest number of IDPs in the world, even without exact numbers from half the country.)…
“Whites make locomotives; Negroes cannot make simple needles”
by Diane Bennett
The poor can’t sleep
Because their stomachs are empty.
The rich have full stomachs,
But they can’t sleep
Because the poor are awake.
-Copper miner
Lusaka, Zambia
I have been privileged to work with some of the poorest people in the world in South Sudan. Their daily life is a constant struggle to feed, shelter and clothe their families. I have been, quite literally, the rich person who couldn’t sleep. So…
Posted in Academic research
15 Comments
Aid works! – well at least, for Chivas Regal
Douglas Alexander, British Secretary of State for Development, recently challenged me to stand with the poor and feel their pain at a public event sponsored by NDN. As a privileged politician, he has recently traveled to a few places where he has met some Africans and feels comfortable quoting them as representatives of the whole continent. He made clear that in fact Trevor Manuel, the Finance Minister of South Africa, was the voice…
Posted in Aid policies and approaches
5 Comments
A Tale of Two Refrigerators
In 2001 in southern Sudan, it was a time of peace between wars. It was a time ripe for treating diseases that kill thousands of children every year. It was an opportune time for measles vaccination to halt outbreaks of one of the world’s most preventable diseases. The Measles Initiative, founded by the WHO, UNICEF, the CDC and the American Red Cross, was created to address this significant challenge.
In the rural county where I…
Posted in Field notes, Global health
Tagged Africa, aid effectiveness, Diane Bennett, Sudan, WHO
9 Comments