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Tag Archives: Lant Pritchett

Lant Pritchett and the hot Indian shower

By Laura Freschi | Published May 21, 2010

A great story from Lant Pritchett, writing in the comments section of David Roodman’s blog, about how the development industry sets goals and targets. The way we articulate our goals affects how we set about achieving them.

I was living in India and discussing arrangements for household water supply with some development colleagues of mine. After about half an hour of pretty fruitless discussion I said, “Let’s step back. Tell me your long-run vision

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Posted in Aid policies and approaches, Grand plans/ aid targets | Also tagged , , 3 Comments

How is the aid industry like a piano recital? A defense of aid

By Laura Freschi | Published March 22, 2010

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 , 21 Comments

Live Tweeting from Our “Best and Worst of Aid” Conference

By Administrator | Published March 5, 2010
  1. indabamf Excitedly listening to opening session, Development Research Institute, NYU: Aid & Development Today
  2. indabamf @bill_easterly notes that lack of transparency & specialization are 2 factors that have made AID less effective than it could be
  3. indabamf There has been a upward trend to providing AID to corrupt countries
  4. altmandaniel @bill_easterly gives award for Worst of Aid to Defense/Diplomacy/Development approach of US, UK, Canada
  5. indabamf Worst of AID Oscar goes to the

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Posted in Meta/ about Aid Watch | Also tagged , , , Comments Off

This Friday: “Best and Worst of Aid” Conference

By Administrator | Published March 3, 2010

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 , , , 8 Comments

Is USAID about Aid or Development?

By Guest Blogger | Published June 12, 2009

Guest blog by Lant Pritchett, Professor of the Practice of Economic Development, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University

The name of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is too clever by half. By forming the acronym “aid” it attempts to create popularity (who could be against “aid” broadly interpreted as “assistance” to the world’s poorest?) at the expense of perhaps confusing everyone, including itself, about its actual mission. There are many ways of…

Posted in Political economy | Also tagged 20 Comments

DRI to Host Conference on Aid Evaluation

By Laura Freschi | Published January 27, 2009

On February 6th, NYU’s Development Research Institute (DRI) will host What Would the Poor Say: Debates in Aid Evaluation, a one-day conference with the leading thinkers in development economics. The conference will take place at New York University, where participants from universities, NGOs, the independent media and the private sector will add to the dialogue on how to make aid agencies accountable for the most effective solutions to global poverty.

A list of speakers and…

Posted in Meta/ about Aid Watch | Also tagged , , , 7 Comments