whythawk ratings: measuring effective development

1.
(Comments)

If someone gave you a car and a gas source so that you could read by the headlights, you could still start the motor and learn to drive it couldn\'t you? Of course there would be the danger that you m

2. Zimbabwe's Hope Deterred
(Analysis/Analysis)

...sition? Tsvangirai has previously threatened to rid the army and police force of incompetence. Both the head of the army, General Constantine Chiwenga, and the head of the police, Commissioner Augusti...

3. Zimbabwe: The beginning, and ending, of the beginning
(Analysis/Analysis)

...lans to return. Through the weekend there was a lot of doubt about whether the three leaders would go ahead with the signing of the deal. It was an anxious weekend for everyone. Monday, 16 Septembe...

4. After Conceit: Recovering from the Credit Crunch
(Analysis/Analysis)

...re declaring that, through the power of your effort, you will create sufficient value during the month ahead to earn an income. You do not earn your salary merely by showing up at a place of work. Y...

5. Possession of state assets has become an end in itself
(Analysis/Analysis)

...un the facilities once they exist. If our government had followed the Swedish model, then all of these headaches would belong to the private sector and the state would only have to pay for results. ...

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

...00 doctors. Many of these are women, and many of these women are devout Muslims. At present, wearing a head-scarf, a traditional sign of piety amongst Muslim women, is illegal. So, some women who ar...

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

...those who refuse to hold these belligerents to the same standards that the US has been held to are shit-heads. The hypocrisy and emptiness of their ideals will be demonstrated. Not a hatred of injus...

8. Dealing with the consequences of Zimbabwe
(Analysis/Analysis)

...vel of economic collapse. Right now a lot of economists and financial strategists are scratching their heads and sharpening their pencils as they attempt to figure a way to stabilise what used to be ...

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

...le, we should punish everyone. In a system of this nature it is impossible for talented people to get ahead, or for incompetent fools to be removed from positions where they will cause harm. The ass...

10. Of Chiefs and Presidents
(Analysis/Analysis)

...he maximum number of terms a president can stand. Omar Bongo is considered to be one of the wealthiest heads of state in the world. Bongo, Africa's longest serving head of state, has ruled Gabon ...

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

...re to stick their necks out and object to government policy. Mostly they're too busy keeping their heads down to avoid all the shrapnel sent their way. "The rich are getting richer and the...

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

...gh tax rates and extortionate political policies push the most creative out of the country. Yet, as we head into the home stretch in the race to discover who will govern South Africa next, new ideas ...

13. The Miracle of Investment
(Analysis/Analysis)

...riangles. Inexpertly made but showing tremendous promise. Beside it an old man with four teeth in his head grinning like a young boy with the sun rising before him. A few years ago this part of Woo...

14. China, Toys And The Tragedy of Xenophobia
(Analysis/Analysis)

...ggested unilateral bans on Chinese-made goods and trade restrictions at all levels. Zhang Shuhong, the head of Lida and one of the biggest Mattel suppliers, committed suicide. Off the back of the me...

15. The spectre of loyalty over ability
(Analysis/Analysis)

...extiles – our companies beg for subsidies and then fail. Yet there are ideas. Buried inside the heads of individual men and women sitting in airline seats as they emigrate to nations more acce...

16. Black Economic Empowerment, like charity, is not investment
(Analysis/Analysis)

... that department. BEE is being similarly treated; often with the first black management appointee being head of their new BEE departments.  Businesses have calculated the cost of empowerment to t...

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

...ewspaper and that, just this once, Murdoch has put his passion for owning such a prestigious newspaper ahead of profits. The Wall Street Journal's most significant competitor is The Financial Time...

18. Department of inJustice: the corruption of high office
(Analysis/Analysis)

...). The Minister was undeterred. He arranged for a compliant official to re-appoint his friend over the head of the responsible official. Tshishonga was now thoroughly alarmed. One of his obligations...

19. Science gone wrong: when self-delusion leads to death
(Analysis/Analysis)

...ife will be shorter and considerably more drab. The choice is yours. No-one is holding a gun to your head. Except the government when they tax the companies who sell the things you no longer want....

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

...on the type of economy you may be interested in:   Note that the text refers to situations as you head to the extreme of each quadrant. Yes, it is a simplification. Note the relationship, thou...

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

...s are usually sold throughout the world and its owners can be scattered. But maybe that's getting ahead too. When the original entrepreneur either retires, decides to cash in his investment, or ...

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

...k selfish. Philip Armstrong, board-member of the International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN) and head of the World Bank Global Corporate Governance Forum, feels that this should change. Respond...

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

...p open pregnant women's stomachs after taking bets on the sex of the foetus, then parade the little heads on pikes. At least one man was skinned alive before his flesh was picked off and eaten. Th...

24. The Golden Pen, Yahoo, and the worst country in the world to be a journalist
(Analysis/Analysis)

...ts and editors. And we had been skilfully led to this point. Gavin O'Reilly, president of WAN and head of the Independent Newspaper Group, had led the charge when addressing Thabo Mbeki, South A...

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

... where systems are still unsophisticated. The US, where most of this technology was initiated, is way ahead and it is this efficiency lead that has allowed US manufacturers to stay substantially ahea...

26. Freedom of speech is fine, just don't try to use it, says Patricia de Lille
(Analysis/Analysis)

Patricia de Lille, head of the Independent Democrats, has an unusual relationship with free speech. A few examples from her opus of quotes: On US mediation in the ongoing Palestinian Israeli conflict:

27. The future of Newspapers, journalistic integrity and the battle for Google's soul
(Analysis/Analysis)

...r servers." "The ACAP (Automated Content Access Protocol) - an initiative that is being spearheaded by the World Association of Newspapers - is designed to automate this process and create ...

28. Guess which South African cellular company offers the best contract tariffs?
(Analysis/Analysis)

Whythawk does not normally stoop to being a consumer-action journal; however, when the products in question are cell-phone contracts it may be of interest to understand how they stack up against each

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

...ically, "you get fed first."  And he laughs uproariously and contagiously. Salaam is the head of equities at Futuregrowth, a South African-based asset management firm.  The Albarak...

30. Sarkozy's French Election: when elephants fight only the grass gets trampled
(Analysis/Analysis)

... the cost gets passed onto consumers through higher prices.  Raise taxes, increase legislative overhead, you name it, prices go up. This increases the cost of local manufactures and decreases the...

31. Government to gag South African bloggers?
(Analysis/Analysis)

... articles a day – how exactly does the South African government intend to control this? Or are we heading for a two-tiered system where those literate and wealthy enough to afford Internet acces...

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

... employers' and workers' organisations. There is no other way for most of our countries to make headway in the fight against poverty than making it possible for our citizens to be engaged in p...

33. Jacob's ANC Ladder: the power of the state, the power of the party
(Analysis/Analysis)

...trol of the country.  The president appoints cabinet ministers, provincial leaders, mayors and the heads of important portfolio committees and departments.  Parliament is placid and toothles...

34. Jimmy Wales, Digital Freedom South Africa: What would you ask him?
(Analysis/Analysis)

...source movement and the ways in which it can be used by developing nations to leap a generation or two ahead. If you would like to suggest questions of your own for Jimmy Wales please be sure to post ...

35. Demonstration Table of Ratings
(Ratings Demonstration/Demonstration)

This demonstration table of rated entites is laid out in a similar fashion to that presented to subscribers. The organisations listed below are hypothetical and are not related to any real organisat

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

...ack of adequate reporting. Ratings reports allow for full, impartial disclosure without additional overhead on the organisation itself.  The organisation can then use these ratings reports in th...

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

...t belief.  Steps were taken, sometimes hideously barbaric.  If a meteor were discovered to be heading towards the Earth now, we would attempt to take steps to stop it.  No-one would off...

38. Zimbabwe at the Security Council; South Africa's unequivocal support
(Analysis/Analysis)

"Our tenure at the head of the [United Nations' Security Council] is characterised by an indifference to human rights and temporising with tyranny. We have now all but lost much of the moral

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

...and, with a population just over 7 million, is home to Nestle, UBS and Credit Suisse, and has a GDP per head of US$ 54 000.  Their influence on financial markets is profound despite having only l...

40. "Heads or Tails" ... resolution to a difficult choice
(Analysis/Analysis)

...ers a long term foundation. Only when we cannot choose, when moral values make the positioning of one ahead of another impossible, should we resort to counting rhymes. Ibble obble black bobble Ibble ...

41. The 'War Against Corruption' starts with ending the 'Culture of Entitlement'
(Analysis/Analysis)

...eal.  And the more they get away with it, the more what they do is seen to be a normal way to get ahead. There are many things that developed nations do that developing nations don’t; one ...

42. Enterprise Development and Employment: Experiences in South Africa and South Eastern Europe
(Analysis/Analysis)

... of unemployed individuals. The most recent program put in place by the South African government, spearheaded by the Deputy President, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, is the Accelerated and Sustainable Growt...

43. The Martians Really Care: four points to govern development
(Analysis/Ideas and Challenges)

...ing or what it is for any plan will be lost.  Throw in a bunch of confused motivations and it will head in the wrong direction: doomed from the start. Development, as a discipline, is a relative...

44. The ANC government of South Africa declares its comfort with violence and brutality
(Analysis/Analysis)

...ch of autocratic anti-democratic thugs.  He became South Africa's first democratically elected head of state when the ANC became the government in 1994. Recently South Africa, and the ANC gov...

45. Zackie Achmat, campaigner for HIV antiretrovirals, charged with genocide
(Analysis/Analysis)

It is as outrageous as it is hilarious.  ((Zackie Achmat)), HIV positive head of the Treatment Action Campaign and a tireless campaigner for universal access to HIV ((antriretroviral)) treatment

46. Does the new Apple iPhone cause poverty?
(Analysis/Analysis)

...facturers.  If, as is to be expected from Apple, the phone is a ((technology|technological)) leap ahead of its competitors, then they too will have to invest in their own products just to keep up...

47. AIDS-related illnesses cost South African businesses up to R 2.2 billion per year
(Analysis/Analysis)

... workforce while providing an effective tool to managing ((HIV))/((AIDS)),” says Dr Craig Nossel, Head of Vitality Wellness at Discovery. ((South Africa)) has the sixth highest prevalence of H...

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

...cross Africa men and women leave their families and homes and travel, seeking opportunities.  Some head north to Europe, some south to South Africa and – in countries not their own – ...

49. How much does a free education cost?
(Analysis/Analysis)

...tion that the founders have of meddling in their students’ education and attempting to fill their heads with all the hopes and aspirations they have for that society rather than allowing the chi...

50. Ithala and The Corruption Of Development
(Analysis/Analysis)

...rks programme. Her partners in this venture were Pretty Mbanjwa and Ntombi Shabalala - the wives of the head of transport, Dr Kwazi Mbanjwa, and head of treasury, Sipho Shabalala.” In response ...