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
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Recent Posts
Recent Comments
- Andrew on Beautiful fractals and ugly inequality: Can you please share the data sources?
- Sina on Beautiful fractals and ugly inequality: this is really good
- Ben Ramalingam on Welcome to economics, all you students (and aid workers): “The number of aid ideas that violate elementary principles...
- Dan Kyba on Welcome to economics, all you students (and aid workers): Market economies and the economics that underpins it has also been,...
- Raphael on Help the World’s Poor: Buy Some New Clothes: Benjamin, I am curious to know where you draw the ethical line. People...
- David Dolejsi on Welcome to economics, all you students (and aid workers): When I was a freshman at my university, they gave us Economics...
Archives
Bill Easterly tweets
- Saying it better! RT@patrin Forget optimal choices, econ is why Disney CEO salary is 140,000x of Ghanaian rock-breakers http://bit.ly/aRxMBt about 13 hours ago from web
- Greetings, Aid workers, welcome to your 1st day of classes on Principles of Economics http://bit.ly/aRxMBt about 18 hours ago from bitly
- World Bank denies expert in charge of development is fictional, he's in secure location in Main Complex, 3rd basement http://bit.ly/bvdx4t 07:57:32 PM September 07, 2010 from bitly
- Hello all, back on Twitter after a week off. Anything happen while I was gone? 03:54:25 PM September 07, 2010 from web
Aid Watch tweets
- IAD on A-i-d http://bit.ly/9Yqk1H. Claudia Williamson discusses Elinor Ostrom's work on development. 12:29:51 PM September 03, 2010 from web
- Be Careful What you Export: http://bit.ly/cE3e1v 11:11:33 AM September 02, 2010 from web
- TransparencyBrawl 2010 continues: http://bit.ly/aG1ytu 08:18:35 PM September 01, 2010 from web
- Hayek vs. the Intellectuals, in technicolor! http://bit.ly/cSnS8m 11:25:39 AM September 01, 2010 from web
Tag Archives: Refugee Run
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…
Posted in Badvocacy and celebs, In the news
Also tagged Jet Blue, MV tourism, Really Bad Things, Slum Tourism
24 Comments
Refugee Run Redux at Davos: the UNHCR displaced?
A year ago this blog featured an invitation to Experience Life as a Refugee at Davos. Some commentators and myself criticized the Refugee Run as an insensitive fund-raising event by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. UNHCR listened to the criticism — and repeated the event this year at Davos. (HT Rex Brynen at PAXSIMS.)
The Refugee Run provides a snapshot of the often terrifying ordeal suffered by people forced to flee their homes because
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I Call Your Authenticity, and I Raise You One Ideology
People sometimes try to win a debate by playing “trump cards” that allegedly overturn any other argument, instead of practicing reasoned arguments based on logic, common sense, and evidence.
One attempted “trump card” is that an “authentic” member of group X is in favor of a certain policy towards group X. The hidden assumption is that any “authentic” member of group X can speak for all other members of group X, and knows what is…
Posted in Cognitive biases
Also tagged Dambisa Moyo, Davos, Financial Times, trump cards
22 Comments
And Now For Something Completely Different: Davos Features “Refugee Run”
When somebody sent me this invitation from Antonio Guterres, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, I thought at first it was a joke from the Onion. What do you think of the Davos rich and powerful going through the “Refugee Run” theme park re-enactment of life in a refugee camp?
Can Davos man empathize with refugees when he or she is not in danger and is going back to a luxury banquet and…