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
Recent Comments
- Rukmini on Aid Watch blog ends; New work on development begins : This has been a valuable resource for me and I’m sorry to see it...
- Jesse on From Hell to Prosperity: I would like to see this graph with a comparative one which shows the number of people in each religion...
- Ellie on Aid Watch blog ends; New work on development begins : Sad to see you go, but I certainly respect the decision. Hope it is...
- Vivek Nemana on From Hell to Prosperity: Jeff, Well, the billionaire effect might explain a disproportionately high mean income, but...
- M on Aid Watch blog ends; New work on development begins : I agree that Bill and Laura should think about how they can get their message...
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Archives
Bill Easterly tweets
- Why are they singing pro-Confederacy song "Maryland, my Maryland" at Preakness horse race? about 8 hours ago from Twitter for iPad ReplyRetweetFavorite
- RT @hangingnoodles: "a self-satirizing plan…pouring in money to a fictional government” http://t.co/K9yCiLgs06 @bill_easterly NYT on Mali … 09:29:12 PM May 17, 2013 from Twitter for iPad ReplyRetweetFavorite
- Good article on aid to Mali, even though I'm quoted http://t.co/1aWi9mjWAo 02:03:59 PM May 17, 2013 from bitly ReplyRetweetFavorite
- RT @dandrezner: Um... http://t.co/R8U5P6jbid MT @bill_easterly Thoughtful, well-written critique of Krugman anti-austerity crusade http://t… 06:43:31 PM May 16, 2013 from Twitter for iPad ReplyRetweetFavorite
Aid Watch tweets
- Where is the line between marketing social impact and exploitation? | http://t.co/YTc7AoLRMc via @Thehumanosphere 06:25:08 PM May 17, 2013 from Buffer ReplyRetweetFavorite
- Why the rise in global trade may have less to do with policy and more to do with metal boxes. http://t.co/QN6uw0wLys via @TheEconomist 05:57:06 PM May 17, 2013 from Buffer ReplyRetweetFavorite
- “I thought you were here to help.” http://t.co/z7hbKP8RtX via @NYTimes 05:29:12 PM May 17, 2013 from Buffer ReplyRetweetFavorite
- African traders flocked to Guangzhou for the cheap goods but are staying to run manufacturing operations http://t.co/gK7jmSS3qW via @qz 05:03:40 PM May 17, 2013 from Buffer ReplyRetweetFavorite
Category Archives: Badvocacy and celebs
Lennon vs. Bono
I watched last night a remarkable documentary on the life of John Lennon called “Imagine.” For my generation, it’s pretty much automatic that Lennon is our hero, and I am no different.
But then I thought, do I have a double standard? I criticize celebrity musicians today like Bono for taking on a role like “Africa expert,” because we would never put rock stars in charge of say, Federal Reserve Policy. Yet Lennon…
Also posted in Uncategorized 38 Comments
Osama Bin Laden, aid expert
From the New York Times:
We are in need of a big change in the method of relief work because the number of victims is great due to climate changes in modern times
Things that are now officially bad: Slum tourism; donors dissing democracy; bad workplaces
UPDATE Aug 11, 12:45pm : some comments defending slum tourism; I give a new perspective on one of the most heated debates that has kept recurring on Aid Watch (see below).
The following bad things are now officially bad because:
(1) NYT oped page gives space to eloquent former slum resident to tell us that slum tourists are indeed really, really offensive (will they get it this time?)
(2) FT Africa editor realizes aid donors not as enthusiastic about democracy as they…
Also posted in Democracy and freedom, In the news Tagged Jet Blue, Refugee Run, Slum Tourism 24 Comments
Wyclef Jean for Prez?
In a world where being an actor, a rock star, or sex video vixen is sufficient qualification for people to sit up and pay attention to your ideas about how to solve world poverty, it comes as no great shock that Wyclef Jean has decided to run for President of Haiti. Herewith, we attempt two arguments in favor of the former Fugees frontman’s candidacy, and two against.
In Favor:
- Wyclef Jean demonstrated his impressive
…
Tagged Haiti, Wyclef Jean 6 Comments
FT: Celebrities urge G8 to make new unkept promises to keep previous unkept promises
Oh how we wish it would be otherwise! What will it take?
Alan Beattie writes on the G8 in the FT:
It stretches the most elastic mind to envisage the collective wrath of Scarlett Johansson, Annie Lennox, Bill Nighy, Kristin Davis and Her Majesty Queen Rania of Jordan, but it descended on the heads of the Group of Eight this weekend.
The obsolescence of the G8 has long been discussed during interminable and inconclusive international
…
Aid Watch offers free PR advice to prime satire target
As experienced satirists, maybe we can do our part helping Aid CEOs avoid ridicule. For example, if you are the CEO of the (RED) campaign fighting AIDS afflicting the desperately poor in Africa, you might not want to appear in today’s FT Power Dressing column (not available online) with quotes like these:
Suit by Gucci
There are certain things that I am really particular about with my wardrobe..I like my suits to fit incredibly
…
The “Stuff We Don’t Want” flowchart
UPDATE: Scott has taken some of your suggestions to improve the chart–Version 2.0 is below.
I doubt we need to point out that if you’re about to embark on an aid project to help Africa with no actual knowledge of aid or Africa, the ire of a certain blogging development economist may not be your greatest preoccupation. And we probably also don’t need to mention that developing a simple set of standards (perhaps in the…
A suggestion for the 1MillionShirts guy
Here’s the back story: A young American entrepreneur wanted to use his powerful social media profiles to do good. He hit on the idea of convincing people to pack up all their unneeded T-shirts, throw in a dollar for shipping, and send them – 1 million of them – somewhere in Africa. He partnered with two charities, applied for 501(c)3 status, and voila, a new cause was born: 1MillionShirts.
Yesterday, professional aid workers, academics,…
Nobody wants your old T-shirts
UPDATE 4/28 10:45 am answering the ”be a man” video: see end of this post
I guess our great Alanna Shaikh post “Nobody wants your old shoes” (2nd most popular post of all time) did not quite reach everybody. Or maybe the parallels between old T-shirts and old shoes were not widely appreciated (HT @texasinafrica)
A new clothing-themed charitable campaign from the guys behind lucrative social media marketing exercise I Wear Your Shirt is looking
…
Hips don’t lie about aid
UPDATE December 14, 2010: The Guardian refers to this post in hosting a discussion of the role of celebrities in development.
I’ll get some grief for celebexploitation on this one… but what the heck..
The celebrity aid phenomenon is not going away any time soon, so one wonders … are there any celebrities doing it better than others?
The Wall Street Journal had an interview with Shakira about her philanthropy efforts.
There are a…
Tagged Colombia, Shakira, Wall Street Journal 15 Comments