whythawk ratings: measuring effective development

1.
(Comments)

... businesses will respond. Consider climate change. In the past year company investment into alternative energy research has gone from US$35 bn to US$72 bn and that is out of new business scenting an...

2. Higher food prices are good for the poor
(Analysis/Analysis)

...member that politicians invariably make a hash of things. Threats to give the department of Minerals and Energy powers to legislate the energy efficiency of household appliances are likely to result ...

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

...government bailout of AIG dried up interbank lending. On top of the Russian state-led dismemberment of energy companies Yukos, and BP’s Russian operations, as well as the war in Georgia, the ...

4. No way out; ducking the Eskom bullet
(Analysis/Analysis)

In the smouldering aftermath of the violence of the past few weeks, politicians and apologists are looking for excuses and reasons. The structure of the economy is being blamed and the debate about t

5. Overcoming the Conservation of Energy
(Analysis/Analysis)

Walking through London a week ago, I was conscious of how much of the city is built on foundations that are hundreds of years old. The London Underground – the world's first inner-city mas

6. When no-one is held accountable, everyone suffers
(Analysis/Analysis)

...confusion and panic as he attempts to account for how it is possible that a decision not to invest in new energy capacity a decade ago could possibly result in all the chaos today. Plus, having caref...

7. Electricity Redux - Electricity Quotas Will Work About As Well As Race Quotas
(Analysis/Analysis)

In 1998 the US state of California partially deregulated electricity production and sales. The "partially" bit is where things came ungummed. The private companies that purchased the righ

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

...have their consequences. The subsidised "free" electricity given to all is another reason that energy demand has outstripped supply. The result, as we all experience, is regular shortages....

9. Simba the Saviour?
(Analysis/Analysis)

...he age of 30, he was appointed deputy minister of agriculture. He has also held the office of minister of Energy, as well as Minister of Youth. His most significant and controversial appointment wa...

10. Exports and parliamentary laziness
(Analysis/Analysis)

...o local representation. Finding customers to buy your products in a foreign land takes a lot of time and energy. Salespeople have to fly to trade-shows, introduce themselves to potential customers, ...

11. The Miracle of Investment
(Analysis/Analysis)

...ry has decided to issue a moratorium on new construction. The same things are true of telecommunications, energy and mining. Job creation does not come about through the benevolence of an act of parl...

12. Investment cannot happen if the market isn't private
(Analysis/Analysis)

.... All starry-eyed they may pull out their chequebooks and offer to invest. But what will they buy? Our energy industry is highly regulated. No competitors are invited to challenge the sterling ser...

13. Atlas Shrugged at 50
(Analysis/Analysis)

...sume more than he has produced." South Africa too is experimenting with redistribution. Minerals and energy minister Buyelwa Sonjica has threatened De Beers, a South African diamond-mining conglo...

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

... cultural capitalist core and meet the tide as an equal." Suburbia. Lost the sounds and smells and energy of urban bazaars. Wares and shops leaning up against each other. Music and foods ming...

15. May I have the bill, please? A lesson in wilful ignorance ...
(Analysis/Analysis)

...ble choice they will switch to the service that offers them the most reward for their investment of time, energy and (occasionally) money.  If the relationship has become confrontational – ...

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

...en Russia cut off their gas supplies during a dispute with Belarus.  Eskom, the South African state energy supplier, is suffering the indignity of demand that is “higher than was anticipa...

17. The end of wild seafood and the myth of "free"
(Analysis/Analysis)

...son. The barriers to stepping up and out of poverty are starting to rise.  Unless new and determined energy is put into re-inventing development the gap between rich and poor may be as severe as ...

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

...rmation gleefully and rushing off to grant investors concessions to set up biofuel farms, the Minister of Energy from Malawi said, “We don’t understand this technology.  Please can yo...

19. Interpreting the Emerging Market Risk Curve
(Static Content)

...hrough dubious legal sleights-of-hand. Growth can exceed the capacity of critical infrastructure (such as energy) and result in sudden collapses. Asset-price over-valuation may result from too much mo...

20. Why Use Whythawk
(Static Content)

Without health, people do not have the energy to learn.  Without learning, people cannot have aspirations.  Without aspirations, people will not demand the products that only businesses can

21. Interpreting the Emerging Market Risk Curve
(Static Content)

...hrough dubious legal sleights-of-hand. Growth can exceed the capacity of critical infrastructure (such as energy) and result in sudden collapses. Asset-price over-valuation may result from too much mo...

22. Why Use Whythawk
(Static Content)

Without health, people do not have the energy to learn.  Without learning, people cannot have aspirations.  Without aspirations, people will not demand the products that only businesses can