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...
- Mr. Econotarian on Are Lax US Gun Laws Spilling Violence into Mexico? : The paper says: “DHS data gives the number of illegal...
Archives
Bill Easterly tweets
- The only immigration policy Congress agrees on is to keep admitting fashion models http://t.co/ZBS1Uw34eN about 5 hours ago from bitly ReplyRetweetFavorite
- New book identifies this as 1st rock and roll album -- in 1938 http://t.co/umXVgRlXeQ 02:28:18 PM May 19, 2013 from bitly ReplyRetweetFavorite
- Warning sign that Lenin was centrally planning toilet time on train back to Russia http://t.co/bV8SuNLvF3 02:11:30 PM May 19, 2013 from bitly ReplyRetweetFavorite
- Why are they singing pro-Confederacy song "Maryland, my Maryland" at Preakness horse race? 10:10:17 PM May 18, 2013 from Twitter for iPad ReplyRetweetFavorite
Aid Watch tweets
- Consensus driven, simple, numerical targets were both the strength and the weakness of the MDGs. http://t.co/od8c97a5bI via @guardian about 4 hours ago from Buffer ReplyRetweetFavorite
- "There must be a lot of money laundering, but we're not criminals. We're just making life more convenient." http://t.co/hlhAagWUL4 @reuters about 4 hours ago from Buffer ReplyRetweetFavorite
- 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
Tag Archives: China
Our China who art in heaven, hallowed be thy growth rate
UPDATE 4: thanks to all the critics on this post, too bad I couldnt get Chinese censoring technology to work:)
UPDATE 3: 9:30am Sat 10/9: links to Nobel Peace Prize and Charter ’08
UPDATE 2: 1:30pm. New Yorker writer Evan Osnos generously replies to my criticisms (see end of post)
SCOREBOAD UPDATE 10 AM 10/8: understanding key to China’s future development: Nobel Committee 1, New Yorker 0; Liu Xiaobo 1, Justin Lin, 0.
Posted in Democracy and freedom, Economics principles Also tagged Justin Lin, Liu Xiabo, New Yorker 34 Comments
The coming end to China’s rapid growth
China’s remarkable growth rate is unlikely to last. No country in history has managed to grow nearly so fast for so long.
“China is defying the law of gravity at the moment,” says New York University economist William Easterly, who has tracked economic development for decades. “But that doesn’t mean that gravity is wrong.”
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From 1900 to 2000, NYU’s Mr. Easterly says, per-capita growth of all countries ranged between 1% to 3% a year.
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Was the poverty of Africa determined in 1000 BC?
The usual development conversation about determinants of per capita income revolves around modern choices of institutions or economic policies. But what if history is the main determinant of development today?
A paper by Diego Comin, Erick Gong, and myself was just published in the American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics. We collected crude but informative data on the state of technology in various parts of the world in 1000 BC, 0 AD, and 1500 AD.
1500…
Posted in Academic research, Technology 67 Comments
The Asian Man’s Burden? China worried about prospects of Europe
According to the FT, China’s Investment Corporation is “very concerned” about threats of further instability in the Eurozone.
Considering also China’s big new role in aid to Africa, is it time to start wondering whether both World Bank and IMF should be moved to Beijing?
Not that I am willing to join the China-worship cult, but I DO love historical ironies that deflate pretensions of the White Man as Savior.
Posted in In the news 8 Comments
Can the West learn from China in Africa?
Deborah Brautigam, Associate Professor in American University’s International Development Program, is author of the book The Dragon’s Gift: The Real Story of China in Africa (see our review here), and a new blog which digs into current China in Africa issues reported in the press. She recently spoke at NYU and answered a few of our questions.
Q: It’s my reading of your book that you think Western donors could learn something from the…
China in Africa myths and realities
In recent years, journalists and pundits in the West have looked on China’s economic engagement with Africa, including foreign aid, with growing alarm. An NYT op-ed a few years ago called China a “rogue donor,“ giving aid that is “nondemocratic in origin and nontransparent in practice, and its effect is typically to stifle real progress while hurting ordinary citizens.”
Other negative stories about China in Africa include China abetting genocide in Darfur by supplying arms…
Posted in Aid policies and approaches, Books and book reviews Also tagged New York Times 16 Comments