whythawk ratings: measuring effective development

1.
(Comments)

...rving? Why do 20% of the world live in absolute poverty? As for starting a political party, you can\'t change society through parliament. Parliament is a management structure for the status quo. Th...

2.
(Comments)

...so, they can price things that are important appropriately and businesses will respond. Consider climate change. In the past year company investment into alternative energy research has gone from US...

3. Netscape, the Internet and Creative Destruction
(Analysis/Analysis)

...enie escaped the bottle on August 9, 1995, when Netscape Communications listed on the Nasdaq technology exchange in New York. The shares were priced at a rather optimistic $28 each. Within minutes o...

4. Of Chiefs and Presidents
(Analysis/Analysis)

...er executives of the oil giant, Elf. Payments amounting o $16.7 million were allegedly made to Bongo in exchange for Elf being given preference over British and US oil firms. Gabon is, however, more s...

5. Funding departments instead of people cheats everyone
(Analysis/Analysis)

...ed rubbish. It is time to recognise that the state is quite incapable of running any services and that a change is necessary. There are two ways in which government can deliver on its "developm...

6. Zimbabwe's winds of change are blowing once more
(Analysis/Analysis)

... expected and it is hoped that Zimbabweans will vote a preferance to ignore such nonsensical views, take change into their own hands and vote for a leader they view most likely to guarantee them a fu...

7. Higher food prices mean downgrading that Turkey to a Chicken
(Analysis/Analysis)

...fall hardest on middle- to lower-income earners. What is driving these price increases? No, not climate change ... not yet anyway. We have come out of a long period of declining food prices. The r...

8. The Speculator: Pricing in the Future
(Analysis/Analysis)

..., though, that the situation was different and that – while you may know that the petrol price will change – you have no idea whether it will go up or down or by how much. That becomes re...

9. Simba the Saviour?
(Analysis/Analysis)

...e came in with a lot of zeal and beaming with confidence. He actually believed that he was going to bring change to the economy. Makoni had some reason to feel this way as Mugabe had promised him unco...

10. Exports and parliamentary laziness
(Analysis/Analysis)

...credible expense of transporting the goods in the first place. Exporting from a country that still has exchange control makes matters even worse as manufacturers go cap in hand to "beg" gov...

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

...p; In order to ensure liquidity – an availability of US dollars that other nations could use for exchange between each other – they had to run a massive deficit.  And, while the cu...

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

...nd 19th centuries were fleeing villages wiped out by enclosures. They triggered the most dramatic social change in human history: the industrial revolution. With it came the astonishing innovations ...

13. Trevor Manuel and the "Plunder of Skills"
(Analysis/Analysis)

...clinic. They are moving in order to best fulfil their ambition. When you sell a pocket calculator you exchange it for the highest cash offer you can get. If you can get a better offer for it by mov...

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

...uru, as one of his points for business success. Or, if you're more of a socialist, "Become the change you seek," according to Mahatma Ghandi. From a business perspective it means that...

15. The Miracle of Investment
(Analysis/Analysis)

...A few years ago this part of Woodstock was a run-down area with little hope of improvement. Not much has changed. Except for the hope. Investors and entrepreneurs are unusual people. They can look...

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

...s South Africa stand in the ratings? Over the past five years our overall score has remained virtually unchanged but our ranking has dropped from 44th to 60th as other countries make efforts to impro...

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

... payments in Krone directly to the Zimbabwean government to fund their aid efforts. Since the official exchange rate is 10% of the real exchange rate 90% of Swiss aid goes directly to supporting the ...

18. Scrogues Converse: Open-space, Identity and the Missing Web
(Analysis/Analysis)

...se the new system. You have to give up your old friends on MySpace and make new ones on Facebook. I can change my service provider any time and keep my email address. No compromise necessary and it...

19. Dow Jones, The Wall Street Journal, and Rupert Murdoch
(Analysis/Analysis)

Business is cyclical. Innovation changes environments and, unintentionally, destroys profitable status quos. When that happens stronger and more innovative firms pounce to buy up the assets of weake

20. Zimbabwe: the Hollow State
(Analysis/Analysis)

... Zimbabwe is an empty but convenient warehouse where people choose to meet for the purpose of trade and exchange. Sellers bring their goods, buyers bring their money. The bulk of that cash arises fro...

21. Everything is coming up Capitalism
(Analysis/Analysis)

...a mix of State-guided and entrepreneurial and is rapidly catching up. The language of markets Language changes and so I present a graphic guide to decide on the type of economy you may be intereste...

22. Zimbabwe: recovering the irrecoverable
(Analysis/Analysis)

...of their most talented people living in exile and wanting to go home. As soon as the political situation changes they will flock in. A stable Zimbabwe will recover all its losses very rapidly. Cult...

23. People, Planet and Profits: the complexities of corporate governance
(Analysis/Analysis)

...hen the company can be broken up into little bits and sold. The little bits are the shares and a stock exchange is a simple forum where people can buy and sell these shares. Thing is a company can h...

24. After Enron: the Corporate Governance of Corporate Social Investment
(Analysis/Analysis)

...nance Network (ICGN) and head of the World Bank Global Corporate Governance Forum, feels that this should change. Responding to questions during the press-launch of the ICGN's annual global confer...

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

...crap pesticide use and go back to crop rotation." Or: "Fine, so airline travel has dramatically changed the world and allowed cultural mixing and tourism which improves international knowled...

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

... It is a piece of European and American cultural imperialism on such an epic scale that it reduces regime-change in Iraq to a dust-mote in a desert storm. It says, "You are helpless. You are in...

27. Two Frontiers: wars of liberation and of determination
(Analysis/Analysis)

...al Criminal Court in The Hague. The reason he's going there at all is because of an Iraq-style regime-change effort by British and American forces. Sometimes it does work. The rioting and mayhem...

28. What comes after Capitalism?
(Analysis/Analysis)

... long as we are delighted by different things there will always be Capitalism. What flavour we have will change with our own needs and aspirations. Capitalism is a natural process. And will evolve ...

29. When equality becomes unfair: South Africa's two economies
(Analysis/Analysis)

... the harm protectionist laws cause.  None of the workers could swim ... when the tide came in. Tides change.  China proves this. The poor are not just there to make things for rich people.&n...

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

...b market without proving their capabilities. Restaurant owners take in anyone without question and, in exchange, pay as little as possible. Everything in a restaurant is carefully worked out. The f...

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

...;He wasn't interested in reforming the election process. Abacha wanted to stand for a third term and change the constitution." But here everything fell apart. Nigeria's parliament reje...

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

...ge they perform rather well, at an average of 31.5% per annum - this relative to the Johannesburg Stock Exchange all-share index return of 23.7% for the same period.  Remember, this is an emergin...

33. Have you paid your car guard today?
(Analysis/Analysis)

... telling “The way it is” which features the line, “There’s a lot that don’t change in another man’s mind when all they can see at the hiring time is the line on the...

34. One Laptop Per Child, now costing 75% more ...
(Analysis/Analysis)

...de with a government completely opposed to the Internet.  Little notebook computers are not going to change anything. AMD with their 50x15 project has a more practical approach of putting comput...

35. Internet Bubble 2.0: the future of dotcom depends on the mobile phone
(Analysis/Analysis)

... is always with you than on a computer which is fixed in space.  And the nature of that small device changes the way you interact. Politicians in developing countries famously arrive late at part...

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

...;A lot of the conflict happening in society comes from shifting identities brought about by technological change,” said Western Cape Premier, Ebrahim Rasool.  “The more uncertain peop...

37. Unlearning helplessness: how donors reinforce poverty and dependency
(Analysis/Analysis)

...person, through experiences beyond their control, is sensitised to the belief that they can do nothing to change their own circumstances. Women who remain in abusive relationships, children who are b...

38. What market is worth R 100 billion a year and is growing at 10.9%?
(Analysis/Analysis)

...xi industry is a vast and under-appreciated network of business owners worth R 21 billion a year 2.  Change your revenue model Recognise the truth of informal markets:  contracts are unenfor...

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

...h at the bottom of the pyramid, both in earning and sales potential. Much of this requires a significant change in the way in which a company is prepared to work: a highly decentralised approach; par...

40. Unions, the leverage of the highly skilled, and the future of work
(Analysis/Analysis)

...es an equal say in the business. Over the last 50 years the structure and organisation of businesses has changed.  Companies are now widely owned and answerable to shareholders and various indep...

41. Cricket, corruption and the match-fixing that leads to murder
(Analysis/Analysis)

...one player should play unusually well, or unusually badly, the result can still be tweaked through subtle changes in field placement, slowing down, or speeding up play. I remember watching Hansie Cro...

42. Climate Change: measurement, responsibility and risk
(Analysis/Analysis)

The debate about Climate Change is increasingly acrimonious and defensive.  At core is conflict over whether or not anthropomorphic (human) carbon emissions are responsible for global warming. T

43. Aggregation and collaboration: a guide to making money and doing good in poor nations
(Analysis/Analysis)

...ssful.  DatingBuzz offers an aggregated model where many companies can use their software and simply change the front-end to accommodate their own needs.  The subscribers are shared which si...

44. While no-one was watching
(Analysis/Analysis)

...rrying is this:  if no-one had seen fit to go and take a look in the first place, nothing would have changed.  In this, unasked, Whythawk serves a vital roll.  We are watching....

45. What happens when they hate you? The impact of charity.
(Analysis/Analysis)

...or frustration. If you seek an emotional response from people you must be prepared for those emotions to change.  Hollywood is littered with yesterday’s heroes, now today’s villains....

46. Joost minds the baby: what happens to state control when technology passes them by?
(Analysis/Analysis)

...e of new technologies.  Satellite-based communications are already used in lieu of local telephone exchanges across Africa.  As the price for these services comes down it gets easier and eas...

47. The best bridge out of poverty is over the future of cash
(Analysis/Analysis)

...community, it means openness and transparency imposed by strong outside forces. The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) has seen numerous big-listings flee overseas where capital is more readily availa...

48. General Scorecard Overview and Summary
(FAQs/Rating FAQs)

...ing may be affected; please contact us directly for discussion positive - we expect the rating outlook to change for the better during the year owing to positive initiatives undertaken by the organisa...

49. The redistribution of poverty
(Analysis/Analysis)

...their weight, but everyone knows what they need to do:  eat less, exercise more.  The period of change from an unhealthy lifestyle to a healthier one is certainly painful and unpleasant; but...

50. "On your left is an Orc fighting a Troll" - travels in hyper-reality offer lessons for the poor
(Analysis/Analysis)

...ent governments is usually supported in one way or another by the majority.  It is in their hands to change the way they are governed – outsiders (as the US discovered in Iraq) cannot bring...