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 Posts
Recent Comments
- Lorenzo from Oz on When financial crises are devastating to a country’s long-run prospects: Carmen’s (1) and (2) categories...
- Dan Kyba on When financial crises are devastating to a country’s long-run prospects: A second opinion never hurts. When conducting...
- Ehui on African Tourism projects: great potential or white elephants? : About the pedophiles , I am not sure whether the Ghana Tourist...
- Sam Gardner on African Tourism projects: great potential or white elephants? : Of course, every income counts for a developing country,...
- Henning on African Tourism projects: great potential or white elephants? : Bill, what do you think about poverty being part of the...
- Andrew on African Tourism projects: great potential or white elephants? : I think the big problem with Mole is the lack of big cats. If...
Archives
Bill Easterly tweets
- When financial crises ARE devastating to a country's long run prospects (Q&A with Carmen Reinhart) http://bit.ly/a55V1d about 14 hours ago from bitly
- African tourism great potential vs. white elephant? This time the comments are better than the original post. http://bit.ly/cRc8l4 about 15 hours ago from bitly
- @BloomsburyUSA yes 08:15:26 PM July 28, 2010 from Twittelatorin reply to BloomsburyUSA
- African Tourism projects: great potential or white elephants? http://bit.ly/cRc8l4 05:47:56 PM July 28, 2010 from bitly
Aid Watch tweets
- RT @MollyKinder Pew Pakistan poll: US still hated, economic worries more intense, and confusion over US aid. http://tiny.cc/4p7kv. about 5 hours ago from web
- Today's post: When financial crises ARE devastating to a country's long run prospects (Q&A with Carmen Reinhart) http://bit.ly/a55V1d about 10 hours ago from web
- RT @intldogooder Have been pulling together links on existing aid reform efforts here: http://www.how-matters.org/links-resources/ about 10 hours ago from web
- Today's post: African Tourism projects: great potential or white elephants? http://bit.ly/cRc8l4 06:24:49 PM July 28, 2010 from web
Tag Archives: best and worst
How is the aid industry like a piano recital? A defense of aid
In 1991, India faced a looming balance of payments crisis. India’s leaders responded, making what are now generally agreed to be some very good decisions: they devalued the exchange rate and instituted a systematic set of economic reforms that lowered high trade barriers and eliminated repressive internal regulations, helping to dismantle India’s notorious license-permit Raj. These reforms averted what might have been years of stagnation or slow growth (avoiding the fate of a Mexico…
Posted in Big ideas/ the secret to development is..., Financing development
Also tagged India, Lant Pritchett
21 Comments
Best in Aid: The Grand Prize
As long as there are disasters, there will always be people who want to help by whatever means first strikes their fancy. There will be those who insist on giving shoes (including such high profile experts as Jessica Simpson and Kim Kardashian). Still others offer used yoga mats, or baby formula. Ports and roads clogged up with shoes and yoga mats cannot deliver essential medicines, food and supplies.
Then there are…
Posted in Badvocacy and celebs, Big ideas/ the secret to development is..., Metrics and evaluation
Also tagged smart giving
22 Comments
Worst in Aid: The Grand Prize
Hillary Clinton recently declared: “We are working to elevate development and integrate it more closely with defense and diplomacy in the field…The three Ds must be mutually reinforcing.”
Clinton says that the 3D approach will elevate development to the level of diplomacy and defense. Unfortunately, it could instead lower development further to an instrument employed to achieve military or political priorities. Clinton foresaw these objections: “There is a concern that integrating development means diluting it or politicizing…
Posted in Military aid, Trade
Also tagged 3Ds, Africa, AGOA, military intervention, USAID
34 Comments
Readers’ Submissions: Honorable Mentions in Best and Worst of Aid
The Aid Watch request for reader submissions for Best and Worst of Aid was our experimental attempt to use informal social networks to collect and spread stories about good and bad aid projects. In retrospect, it was only a partial success: we got a lot of submissions that couldn’t be totally verified, and many that did not explain why their submission deserved to be the best or the worst, problems for us to think about…
Posted in Aid policies and approaches, Global health
6 Comments
This Friday: “Best and Worst of Aid” Conference
For aid watchers in New York, this post is a reminder of Development Research Institute’s upcoming conference this Friday, from 9 am to 2 pm, in NYU’s Kimmel Center.
Called “The Best and Worst of Aid: Incentives, Accountability and Effectiveness,” speakers and participants will present new findings and discuss and debate the best and worst of what happened in aid this year.
(According to some rumors, the irrepressible light-hearted side of DRI will give Oscar-style…
Posted in Meta/ about Aid Watch
Also tagged Andrew Mwenda, Clare Lockhart, Lant Pritchett, World Bank
8 Comments