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
Shelter from the storm
In 1997, a small group of Chilean students started working as volunteers in poor areas in the beautiful Bio Bio region in Chile. A few years later, the group decided to start building provisional emergency housing – called mediaguas in Chile – designed to house a family of four. In 2000, over 600 volunteers helped build 5,700 houses, under the umbrella of an NGO originally … [Read more...] about Shelter from the storm
In the long run we are all dead
Discounting future flows is a critical step in Cost Benefit or Cost Effectiveness. Many institutions still use relatively high discount rates, which might not be applicable to projects where benefits-or costs- will happen way in the future in a world of rapidly declining cost of capital. Is it time to reconsider discount rates estimates for development projects, particularly in … [Read more...] about In the long run we are all dead
Don’t make war, make elections
by Leopoldo Fergusson* and Juan F. Vargas** Democracy and conflict: a hard question Civil conflict is one of the major threats to long-run economic development, and causes enormous human suffering. However, we still do not have a clear understanding of the factors that exacerbate or help mitigate the risk of conflict and, in particular, about the role of democracy in … [Read more...] about Don’t make war, make elections
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