whythawk ratings: measuring effective development

1.
(Comments)

...children to so much information, ideas, other nations and cultures, and give them something intangable, hope and new ideas. The way you put it sounds like ... I could see your point if he was a bak...

2.
(Comments)

...s recieving the comuters not knowing how to use the computers etc) of the project are another story and hopefully will not be of detriment to the project. Also hopefully people can step up and try to ...

3.
(Comments)

Great essay. Hope someone in COSATU reads it.

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

...time though, we all have to wait out the shameful and corrupt backroom horse-trading going on that will hopefully ease Comrade Bob out of office before he manages to unleash a Kenya-style civil war. ...

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

...e going to have a great deal of relationship-building to do with our African neighbours. Otherwise the hopes of an African economic renaissance, with South Africa as its champion, will lie dashed in ...

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

...al I spoke to (who chose to remain nameless) spent over R 100 million on a research facility where they hoped to conduct 10 novel drug trials a year. They have retrenched 150 researchers and shut it ...

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

...ability then companies can at least continue to function and maintain some form of economic stability. Hopes of 5% growth will have to wait until there is spare electricity available to support it. ...

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

... preventing future judgement of their past crimes. This kind of reaction was to be expected and it is hoped that Zimbabweans will vote a preferance to ignore such nonsensical views, take change int...

9. Simba the Saviour?
(Analysis/Analysis)

... the urban vote is both small and largely affected by apathy. Change is imminent in Zimbabwe, one only hopes that now is the time and Dr Makoni is the man. For the first time in a decade the light at...

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

...e in their bedroom slippers ... during an earthquake. It is one thing to buy stocks or property in the hopes of making a fortune; but what happens when you want something that will keep its value, ...

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

...igrate to look for work and opportunities they do so out of respect for their own abilities, and in the hopes of securing a future for themselves and their families. Whether the person is a migrant w...

12. The Miracle of Investment
(Analysis/Analysis)

...with the sun rising before him. 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 a...

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

...s. Without local skill and ambition to turn a piece of land into productive capacity Africa's only hope is with the self-interest and pursuit for profits that drives foreign investors. Chase the...

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

...supra-national level. Millions of Zimbabweans fleeing the collapse of their nation are doing so in the hopes of investing their talent somewhere they will see it rewarded. Poor leadership can destro...

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

... are spending R 416 billion on infrastructure, the Gautrain, and soccer stadiums is that the government hopes that, like Jo'burgers visiting Cape Town, foreigners will be so impressed by what they...

16. Black Swans, Cost Overruns and Industrial Tariffs
(Analysis/Analysis)

...at government has decided to unilaterally reduce some of the tariffs holding back our development. One hopes that this will continue long after the memory of the "black swan" explanations a...

17. Atlas Shrugged at 50
(Analysis/Analysis)

...others to add to the value of his time. The man at the bottom who, left to himself, would starve in his hopeless ineptitude, contributes nothing to those above him, but receives the bonus of all of th...

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

... in 2002. The South African government is suggesting linking the Zimbabwe dollar to the SA rand in the hopes of stabilising the currency. South Africa already has a currency union with Namibia, Leso...

19. "Be sure, we will be watching you," the other GB and the pursuit of social justice
(Analysis/Analysis)

...iety in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die,...

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

...ods of conformity that social activists and western capitalists explode, frustrated and enraged, in the hopes of ... making the rest of the world the same? From the outside in Business owners, by and...

21. Start your business in Johannesburg but hire your advisor in Cape Town
(Analysis/Analysis)

...e. Gauteng service providers, in particular, regularly make unrealistic loan applications with limited hope of success. Both regions make similar loan representations (58% vs 59% of all clients) but ...

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

...opportunities that the rich themselves get. Combined with poor efficiency it would make their products hopelessly overpriced and uncompetitive. This widens the gulf between the rich and poor. China...

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

... Whythawk Ratings is busy researching the car-guarding industry. Working entirely for tips (the vague hope that, arriving back at a car miraculously undamaged, the owner will pay the guard) a person...

24. The future of newspapers II: of shock-jocks and self-made media-stars
(Analysis/Analysis)

...standing copy for no money now know. Bloggers are just like those who invested in quirky dotcoms in the hopes of being bought out. For as long as you are popular you can share in the fun. Like Don Im...

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

..., and now everyone has joined in. The best that us small players, the grass that is being trampled, can hope for is that the elephants settle their differences and notice the damage they’re caus...

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

...o the defence of Negroponte I will admit that the technology is nifty, innovative and exciting.  I hope it gets incorporated into commercial devices.  However, one has to ask oneself whether...

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

... real opportunity to end dependency.  Organisations that are dependent themselves have very little hope of ending dependency in others. Without meaningful external analysis, and regular ratings ...

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

...t situation in France.  Yet it is as pithy a summary of the situation in South Africa as you could hope to read.  England came out of their morass on the wings of Dame Maggie Thatcher. ...

29. The Last King, the Centralised State, and Democracy
(Analysis/Analysis)

... seeds for that outcome were present when he was first in Malawi, and he too was unable to do more than hope it would all work out. Not that the more developed nations have an any more sophisticated ...

30. The Cold War, Global Warming and the War on Ideas
(Analysis/Analysis)

...rica.  Millions of impoverished people are still subjected to governments who offer the naïve hope that they alone know all the answers about how economic development should take place.&nbsp...

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

...often see nothing but despair and outrage in these troubled lands - to see their homes as a place where hope is possible, and professionalism and pride are normal.   When they are killed the act...

32. Coffee, the miracle of poverty, and other wonders
(Analysis/Analysis)

...advance and have no means of evaluating what they buy.  Farmers suffer accordingly. There is some hope though.  The most effective tool to ensure that farmers are not hurt by anti-competiti...

33. South Africa and China, or why democracy isn't connected to economic growth
(Analysis/Analysis)

...number of obstacles to business efficiency.  Without that efficiency South Africa has virtually no hope of being internationally competitive.  The rest of the world may sympathise with South...

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

...n a part of the economic landscape of winners. And, when they do get round to testing those waiters, I hope it involves lots of electricity. ...

35. Government rewards the worst schools for poor performance
(Analysis/Analysis)

...d for poor performance and little incentive on the part of school management to improve there is little hope for this "turnaround". And while solutions are being painfully and slowly discuss...

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

... not involved in its production and none of the materials required for its manufacture are sourced from hopelessly impoverished nations. At best the iPhone will result in a globally improving standar...

37. Does Africa need the most expensive school in the world?
(Analysis/Analysis)

...use and feed.  This is significantly higher than the $ 7 500 I originally mentioned and I can only hope that further costs don't emerge. How she spends her money is entirely her prerogative.&...

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

... foreign aid, but with lots of investment. Whatever its failings, the United Nations is still the best hope for international cooperation and Africa is the world’s difficult child that just doe...

39. Is the $ 100 laptop no more than a really expensive light-bulb?
(Analysis/Analysis)

...t producing a $ 100 laptop.  There are many technological breakthroughs in the $ 100 laptop that I hope will be introduced into commercial mainstream notebooks – using them as a light-bulb ...

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

...ers 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 child to find their ow...

41. The poor have never had it so good ... now what?
(Analysis/Analysis)

... Playstation 3 games. In the real world retailers left with PS1 stock dump it in the bargain bin in the hopes of getting rid of it. Demanding an esoteric idea of "fairness" requires very rea...

42. "Madiba's children" failed by their government
(Analysis/Analysis)

...or the Department of Education to adopt the same mechanisms of the private sector and give our children hope for employment and success.     ...

43. Guide To Volunteering
(Analysis/Donation Tips)

...would help this charity achieve its mission? * What tasks am I unable or not willing to do? * What do I hope to gain from the experience?           o Do I ...

44. Why Use Whythawk
(Static Content)

...n provide.  And, without responsible interventions into the lives of the most at risk, there is no hope for meaningful social change and economic growth. More than a billion people live at the bo...