whythawk ratings: measuring effective development

1. The Revenge of the Markets
(Analysis/Analysis)

...ne standing when the music stops. The markets have become profoundly, almost terminally, unstable. Oil prices, which had risen as a result of shortages caused by substantive economic growth, have ...

2. The Remarkable Power of Remarkable People
(Analysis/Analysis)

...e them away. Subsidies and tariffs aimed at the few distort markets in outlandish ways. Subsidies to oil producers push entire economies to rely on cheap oil at the expense of, seemingly, more expen...

3. South Ossetia: Russia and Georgia's dangerous game
(Analysis/Analysis)

...ed nation with few friends in the West. A return to the Cold War? Western Europe is in a bind. High oil and gas prices tie them to Russia. Putin has been more than happy to turn off the gas when h...

4. Xenophobia and the end of the African Renaissance
(Analysis/Analysis)

...wth is possible – was to call for a commission to be set up to investigate the causes of the turmoil. The violence is spreading. The same police who usually hassle African economic migrants fo...

5. When big businesses stop submitting to autocrats
(Analysis/Analysis)

In 2003 Hugo Chavez, president of Venezuela, took control of his country's oil production after declaring his lack of faith in private endeavour. He tore up the contracts that oil extraction compa

6. Of Chiefs and Presidents
(Analysis/Analysis)

...en levelled against Bongo. Also in 2003, Bongo was implicated in the trial of former executives of the oil giant, Elf. Payments amounting o $16.7 million were allegedly made to Bongo in exchange for E...

7. Of Capitalism, Socialist Greed, Poverty and Remaining Silent
(Analysis/Analysis)

...The vocal host was Fruit & Veg City, who also provided a tasteful display of lemons, garlic, olive oil, African potatoes and beetroot to go along with the proceedings. This should not be a one-of...

8. Searching for objective measures of value
(Analysis/Analysis)

...g with the overall credit imbalance, has lead to US dollar weakness.  Add to that a strengthening oil price, stock market instability, and frothiness in global property markets and it is no won...

9. Perlemoen and the Tragedy of the Commons
(Analysis/Analysis)

...cows on commonly held grazing land. Herds intermingled, livestock diseases travelled easily, and the soils were depleted. The problem that medieval peasant farmers discovered was this: as long as t...

10. This festive season: the accumulating effects of individual activity
(Analysis/Analysis)

...ffects of mass production are a major cause of global warming and the poisoning of our air, water and soil." This being the third-tier of their justification for promoting "handmade" ov...

11. Contradictions resolve in ways you don't intend
(Analysis/Analysis)

...egional powerhouse. With three times our population, and despite being the world's eighth largest oil producer, Nigeria has only a tenth of our Gross Domestic Product. But South Africa has achie...

12. Killing the Golden Goose, a lesson in Economic Freedom
(Analysis/Analysis)

...o learn. Last week saw Robert Mugabe's thuggish regime claim ownership of Olivine, a large cooking-oil producer. Many governments believe that businesses – the gold – can be separated...

13. Africa, China and Investment
(Analysis/Analysis)

... of which US$ 600 billion are South African. Why is this? After all Africa has 8% of the world's oil supply and more metals and minerals than you can shake a pointed stick at. After decades of ...

14. Ending poverty means abandoning charity and accepting reality
(Analysis/Analysis)

...ith the informal sector then the state has no resources. It can maintain itself through possession of oil or mining or even forestry reserves. What it does not have is a middle-class tax base which ...

15. The Trouble with Paradise, or why Pakistan Sucks
(Analysis/Analysis)

...r pronouncements on the inequity of the west project from every channel and newspaper. As long as the oil flows he can afford what he likes. But it won't always flow. And this is the trouble wi...

16. The tragedy of innovation: how brilliant ideas are criminalised
(Analysis/Analysis)

...e agriculture is, however, already known to be outmoded. We have seen how fertilisers have killed the soil, creating erosion, vulnerable plants and loss of water from the soil. We have seen how pestic...

17. Suburbanise! How aid and trade obliterate unique cultures
(Analysis/Analysis)

...o business in Africa only look at commodities such as minerals, ores, timber or – indeed – oil, where they can own the entire supply chain. They treat the country as an island and simply ...

18. The efficiency of markets and how protectionism leaves the poor behind
(Analysis/Analysis)

...w they are able to derive ever more from ever less. Agriculture used to be a matter of ploughing the soil, dropping in the seeds and rotating the crops every season to get nitrogen back into the grou...

19. Do you hate the poor enough to be charitable?
(Analysis/Analysis)

... shack dwellers cluster closer around paraffin stoves to keep warm. There is no electricity. Common toilets are outside. Shacks lean up against each other. Accidents. Happen. Then the fires sprea...

20. Nigeria, or the idiots guide to stealing an election
(Analysis/Analysis)

...rs Province in Southern Nigeria. The province houses the Niger Delta and is the site of Nigeria's oil wealth. They are one of the largest producers in the world yet more than half of Nigerians l...

21. Islam, Shari'ah Law, and Cultural Capitalism
(Analysis/Analysis)

...) and so on.  That leaves industrials (like mines and industrial processing), telecommunications, oil and gas, health care and consumer goods.  Still a lively investment portfolio. So how is...

22. Jobs are from Mars, Business is from Venus
(Analysis/Analysis)

...quo; instead of: here’s Africa, a billion people, without access to things as basic as soap and toilet paper (whatever Sheryl Crow thinks). The question from business is: well, ok, so they have ...

23. Lawrence Lessig, take note: Digital freedom still needs digital responsibility
(Analysis/Analysis)

...Tourette's Syndrome; swearing and cursing to demonstrate that freedom – like a baby’s soiled nappy – is messy. The central difference between a commercial product and open-source...

24. The US$ 5 trillion market at the bottom of the pyramid
(Analysis/Analysis)

...e will,” is a fine sentiment.  And, if all you’re prepared to offer others to eat is boiled potatoes and dried-out steak, beware the day that someone else comes along and offers seare...

25. Development organisations need to engage with ratings agencies
(Analysis/Analysis)

...t in specialised, and costly, fundraising services. As with investment, so with charity; donors are spoiled for choice and those who wish to benefit must make it as easy as possible to invest....

26. Racial arguments muddy human rights and the ending of poverty
(Analysis/Analysis)

...l used some form of ideology to draw support to their cause, so too did National Party rule require a foil.  It just happened to be racial descrimination aimed at blacks.  It could have bee...

27. Cry, The Beloved Country
(Analysis/Analysis)

... them, the mountains of Ingeli and East Griqualand. The grass is rich and matted, you cannot see the soil. It holds the rain and the mist, and they seep into the ground, feeding the streams in every ...

28. What do toilet paper and state monopolies have in common?
(Analysis/Analysis)

...e unable to find any other supply. A single supplier of anything is like having a single supplier of toilet paper.  You’ll only notice the problem when you most need it and, by then, it&rs...

29. Africa falling ever further behind, says UN
(Analysis/Analysis)

...h rate of more than 7%. And too much of that growth has been as a result of volatile commodities, like oil, that raise significant revenue which does little for job creation, and is unevenly distribut...

30. The quiet nobility of the men by the side of the road
(Analysis/Analysis)

...northern border of Namibia was safe to travel in once more.  They were having good rains and the soil there is so fertile and rich it would make any farmer weep with joy. Yet, no land was under ...

31. A revitalised UN may improve development in Africa
(Analysis/Analysis)

...Sub-Saharan Africa has the potential to be the middle-East of biofuels.” He bases his claim on soil analysis which demonstrates that less than 20% of some of the best agricultural land in the w...

32. Lessons in sustainable development
(Analysis/Analysis)

... skyrocketed. The high price would have encouraged the pursuit of substitutes. The same is true of the oil industry. Oil is not held in common. It is freely traded. As the perception of the difficulty...