If you like trains, you must love reading Paul Theroux. As all good travel writers, Theroux balances crankiness, curiosity and charm. One of his best books is Dark Star Safari in which he describes his travels through the arteriosclerotic veins – trains, roads, rivers - of Africa. Theroux goes down the Nile by train and boat, through the Sudan by train and bush taxi, … [Read more...] about Reinventing the wheel
Beyond development effectiveness
Like water for economics
Last night, I started reading Tim Harford´s The Undercover Economist Strikes Back. Like anything Harford touches, it is pure gold. Or should I say pure water from the most pristine source. The book is about macroeconomics and although this blog is not about macroeconomics, I cannot resist the temptation to bring up the first chapter. … [Read more...] about Like water for economics
A road, a market, a challenge
By: France Francois When most people hear the term “market” they picture an orderly scene with vendors perched at their stalls, selling goods to potential clients casually strolling by. The colorful scene at Marché de Poteau (Poteau Market) outside of Gonaïves in central Haiti immediately challenged that notion for the participants of the Fourth Annual Involuntary … [Read more...] about A road, a market, a challenge
Trick-or-Treat Halloween: LACEA 2013
As the Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association (LACEA) decided to start its annual meeting on Halloween, here are some spooky jovial papers. your guess is as good as mine as to which are crunchy treats and which are veiled tricks. And yes, all of these treats are from colleagues from the IDB. You can call it shameless institutional promotion, if you wish. … [Read more...] about Trick-or-Treat Halloween: LACEA 2013
The intangible costs of domestic violence
Domestic violence is among the most pervasive types of violence in Latin America and the Caribbean, and a major challenge to public health. It is negatively linked to women’s health outcomes and children whose mothers suffered from physical violence have worse health outcomes, both in the short and the long term. Recent research from the IDB shows that domestic violence is … [Read more...] about The intangible costs of domestic violence