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Category Archives: Assumptions, Myths and Stereotypes

How to write about poor people

By William Easterly | Published December 28, 2009
  1. world-bank-poverty-numberUse a precise definition of poverty: living on less than $1.25 a day, adjusted for purchasing power. Give the precise number who fit that definition.
  2. Ignore the recent revision of  this number by 42%.
  3. Do not excessively analyze geographic or ethnographic distinctions amongst poor people.blank-world-map
  4. Discuss the following: poverty traps, vicious circles, aid financing gaps.
  5. There probably won’t be time left to discuss the following concepts: initiative, savings, inventiveness, resourcefulness, adaptation

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Also posted in (B)advocacy, Celebs and Cause Marketing | 22 Comments

Response to MV tourism operator on “Should starving people be tourist attractions?”

By William Easterly | Published June 25, 2009

Dear Michael (or Dr. Grosspietsch, whichever you prefer):

Thanks for taking the time to respond, which is very admirable in itself (I am still waiting a week later to hear from the US Army Lieutenant General William Caldwell IV on the Army’s approach to development.)

I have also read the comments on both my post and yours on Aid Watch, and I have read the post of…

24 Comments

Should starving people be tourist attractions?

By William Easterly | Published June 22, 2009

millennium-village-tourist.gif

Senegalese entrepreneur Magatte Wade on the Huffington Post touched a raw nerve about condescension towards Africans. She noted that a tourism operator was marketing one of Jeff Sachs’ Millennium Villages (MVs) as a vacation destination and quoted from the brochure “Please do not give anything to the villagers — no sweets.”

I decided to look more into the MV tourism project, not to pile on, but because I believe patronizing attitudes towards…

42 Comments

African men call for UN to protect white women

By William Easterly | Published May 10, 2009

stephen-lewis.jpg

(Mother’s Day Edition)

OK that didn’t really happen, but just think how white men would respond if it did.

What happens of course is the reverse: white men offer themselves as saviors of African women.

One random example: Stephen Lewis the former United Nations Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa (2001-2006) said that UNAIDS “utterly and tragically failed to protect the women of Africa” and he is calling for a new UN…

15 Comments

We can make bad news look worse…and for Africa, we can make even good news look bad

By William Easterly | Published April 27, 2009

Lost in the confusion of the Spring Meetings this weekend in Washington was the release of the IMF/World Bank Global Monitoring Report (GMR) 2009, the annual song of woe about lack of progress towards the Millennium Development Goals. You would think the current supply of bad news was adequate for our needs, but the GMR has long made a specialty of portraying the poor nations as bleakly as possible and this year’s report…

3 Comments

Self-Esteem in Africa

By Laura Freschi | Published April 22, 2009

by Moussa P. Blimpo (the author is a Ph.D. candidate in Economics at NYU from Togo.)

A prominent university professor in the US goes back to his home country in Africa with his American Master’s student who wanted to get some field experience. The professor is unable to schedule a meeting with a key political leader whereas the student does get a meeting with the African leader.

Last summer, in a heated discussion with some…

9 Comments

Is There Such a Thing as a Good Colonialist?

By Laura Freschi | Published April 16, 2009

An ongoing exhibition at NYU’s Casa Italiana introduces American audiences to a new Romantic hero, the Italian explorer and conquerer Pietro di Brazza. In three small but fascinating rooms of photographs, maps and drawings, the exhibit lays out the argument that Africa would have been better off with more of the kinder, gentler colonialism of Pietro di Brazza, and less of the harsh colonialism of Henry Stanley, the Anglo-American explorer in the service of the…

Also posted in History and Development | 8 Comments

Do You Have To Be Pro-Aid To Be An Authentic African?

By William Easterly | Published April 4, 2009

The always provocative and insightful Chris Blattman asks:

How come all the Africans getting press on the aid debate are conservatives and libertarians? Moyo, Mwenda, Hirsi Ali. The list is getting longer. All make good points (well, at least Mwenda does) but these hardly strike me as indigenous voices. Most seem to be channeling Milton Friedman. There’s nothing wrong with a little Friedman in your thinking, but is this “authentic Africa” or the

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Also posted in Arguments, Logic and Use of Evidence | 11 Comments

When Will There Be Good News? Does it Help There Already Was Some?

By William Easterly | Published March 13, 2009

In the midst of the general doom and gloom, fears about how the crisis will affect poor countries, and fierce criticism of markets, states, and aid agencies, perhaps it’s healthy to step back to the big picture, to recognize there has already been some very real good news. The graph below shows some overall statistics for the developing world:

goodnews1largefontpng.PNG

This graph has a mixture of good news that all of the much-criticized triad of…

Also posted in General Economic Principles | 11 Comments

“Africans Have Cell Phones? Who Do They Call?”

By William Easterly | Published March 10, 2009

Kenyan businesswoman June Arunga on how negative stereotypes of Africa are hurting investment in Africa (from the recent Aid Watch conference at NYU):

June Arunga on Western Attitudes Towards Business in Africa from DRI on Vimeo.

6 Comments