1. The 5 basic laws of human stupidity 2. Debraj Ray on when African Dictator Meets the White Man 3. The 11th Midwest International Economic Development Conference is announced (here are the papers for the 2013 conference held at the University of Wisconsin) HT @MFBellemarle 4. And the @UNUWIDER conference on inclusive growth (and the papers including @JustinSandefour … [Read more...] about 10 links for the weekend (and how to read them faster)
Beyond development effectiveness
Cash and Crime
I find it very hard to work or write on airplanes so in my last trip, I watched Rounders. Matt Damon –whose smile lights up any smoke-filled room – is a reformed gambler and current law student whose girlfriend (a translucent Gretchen Moll) wants him to kick the habit. He picks up his best friend (Edward Norton, appropriately called the “worm”) from prison, and the worm goes … [Read more...] about Cash and Crime
Listen to your mother
We don't need no education We don´t need no thought control Hey! Teachers! Leave them kids alone! All in all it's just another brick in the wall. Despite Pink Floyd, it is pretty clear that education pays off. And programs targeted towards the earliest years have a higher return than those directed at later years. But who knew that when you finally went to college, … [Read more...] about Listen to your mother
Hirschman or the years of thinking differently
I just finished Jeremy Adelman´s biography of Albert O. Hirschman, Wordly Philosopher. It is a deep and detailed account of the life of a remarkable person. Reading it is a breath of fresh air, in which the values of integrity and consistency stand out in a career full of difficulties. Too original, too bold, too interdisciplinary, too reformist or too liberal. He suffered … [Read more...] about Hirschman or the years of thinking differently
4 views on evaluation challenges
By Paloma Acevedo* Conducting an impact evaluation (IE) is a complex exercise full of challenges - if you don’t agree, you probably have not worked on one yet! Some publications, such as ”Learning About Experiments That Never Happened” or blogs about common mistakes in evaluations, talk about some of these challenges. In the workshop “Surveys and Impact Evaluation of … [Read more...] about 4 views on evaluation challenges