Can impact evaluations make a difference? Can they be something more than looking for the keys where the light is instead of where the keys were actually lost? The answer is an unequivocal yes, but for reasons other than the ones usually put forth. The argument I make in this note is that impact evaluations are important not only because of their direct effect in showing which … [Read more...] about Let There Be (More) Light: The Case for Impact Evaluations
2015: A Year to Evaluate
Evidence for the World We Want “Marty McFly: Hey, Doc! Where you goin' now? Back to the future? Doc: Nope. Already been there.” “The future has arrived,” and not in a figurative way; we are living in it, literally, at least for Dr. Emmet and Marty McFly from the sci-fi classic trilogy “Back to the Future.” A few may remember that the last “future” date in this late 80s … [Read more...] about 2015: A Year to Evaluate
Debt and Money: Tales from Greece, Argentina and Puerto Rico and the Danger of Delay
An Irish joke runs that a tourist, lost in the countryside, asks a local the way to Dublin. The Irishman ponders the question carefully and looks at the puzzled foreigner, and after a good while responds, “It’s complicated, I wouldn’t start from here.” And so it is with most sovereign debt restructurings, but does it always have to be this way? Delay risks dire consequences; … [Read more...] about Debt and Money: Tales from Greece, Argentina and Puerto Rico and the Danger of Delay
The Diaspora Goldmine
Many countries have substantial diasporas, but not many are proud of it. After all, people tend not to leave a country when it is doing well, so the diaspora is often a reminder of a country’s darker moments. El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Cuba, to cite three examples, had more than 10% of their native population living abroad in 2010. And this figure does not take into account … [Read more...] about The Diaspora Goldmine
Boring Banks, Safe Economies?
Banks in Latin America and the Caribbean have been through a lot. At times they have been culprits and, through excessive risk-taking or fraud, provoked crises, while at other times they have been victims as fiscal profligacy and/or currency crises lead to financial disaster. In some cases, the interaction between macroeconomic policies and financial sector risks led to deep … [Read more...] about Boring Banks, Safe Economies?