whythawk ratings: measuring effective development

1.
(Comments)

...ve access to them. Those computers have the potential to connect those children to so much information, ideas, other nations and cultures, and give them something intangable, hope and new ideas. The...

2.
(Comments)

...Hundreds of millions of people are working their way out of poverty without the help of NGOs or peculiar ideas of centralised, state-controlled economies. The only place in the world that steadfast...

3.
(Comments)

... is a balanced big-firm/entrepreneurial economy. It allows for easy market access for new firms and new ideas, as well as rapidly removing dead-wood large firms cluttering up the place. The reason...

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

...e from President Thabo Mbeki – the man who would have us believe that a pan-African renaissance of ideas and economic growth is possible – was to call for a commission to be set up to inve...

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

...rt of an overwhelming Mugabe defeat spells continuing trauma for a population starved of good times. New ideas are needed to bring investors back into the economy and the current regime is only intere...

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

...oductive use of capital. Inflation robs money of its value. High interest rates make investment in new ideas prohibitive. High tax rates and extortionate political policies push the most creative o...

7. Slaves to land, the policies of Land Affairs
(Analysis/Analysis)

...ars of "hidden capital". De Soto has visited South Africa on several occasions to present his ideas to government officials. It appears that they have either not listened, or have conclude...

8. The Miracle of Investment
(Analysis/Analysis)

...added to property values. The old man with his chair led me through his house and showed me all the new ideas he has to build and make and sell. He is experiencing the miracle that happens when inve...

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

...rship is a knotty task. It is not merely about seeing further and implementing brave, often contrarian, ideas. It is also about inviting and supporting the best minds to complement that leadership. ...

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

...property rights. By that I mean that, any contractual dispute (whether about the ownership of property, ideas or products, or a legal wrangle) can be sorted out by a recognised third-party whose deci...

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

...is a balanced big-firm \ entrepreneurial economy. It allows for easy market access for new firms and new ideas, as well as rapidly removing dead-wood large firms cluttering up the place. The reason ...

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

"This push for a so-called "green revolution" or "gene revolution" is being done once again under the guise of solving hunger in Africa. Chemical-intensive agriculture is, how

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

...at Obasanjo would be easily pliable and easy to push out at the end of one term. Obasanjo had different ideas. He filled the cabinet and all the provinces with supporters and went on to hold the cou...

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

...t.  They are still one of the biggest European economies, with a massive population and independent ideas about the way in which they would see the world run.  Chirac, their outgoing preside...

15. Hedging and bundling; improving the efficiency of microlending
(Analysis/Analysis)

...on Carrol at the San Francisco Herald wrote, "Mistakes, as they say, were made. Words were written. Ideas were promulgated. These ideas may not have been accurate, although I have no memory of in...

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

...arket out from under you in the process. Limitations are often the source of fertile and profitable new ideas.  Who would have thought that people would ignore the convenience of conversation fo...

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

... Donor funding should be used speculatively, like venture capital, to fund startling and innovative new ideas, to support fledgling – but successful – new projects that have a real opport...

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

...country. While, in general, South African companies are not especially innovative, preferring to import ideas, quite a few companies are excelling. Vive Crone, of Spescom, speaks with affection abou...

19. Rating to create a market; questions and answers
(Analysis/Analysis)

...ows a harmonisation and collected endeavour.  Sprinters are timed over the same course to see whose ideas of training and strategy are best; computers are measured against each other running benc...

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

...erty and it is useful to have these exposed. As wealth generation moves ever further into the realms of ideas the entanglement of nations gets greater.  A common set of rules allows simple commu...

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

...ilosophies centred on an ideal:  is society better off when we allow unrestrained expression of all ideas, or when those ideas are limited and constrained by notions of equality and fairness? Th...

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

... gaming worlds of Second Life and World of Warcraft.  This travel company proves that the number of ideas available to entrepreneurs is infinite.  We will never run out of things to do or ne...

23. We're from Mars and we want to help: four lessons in development
(Analysis/Analysis)

...e telecommunications infrastructure necessary to move intangible products (such as stories, services and ideas). Education: set up universities and colleges and academic programs to develop local scho...

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

... gradual realisation that trade between mutually strong communities creates tremendously more wealth and ideas than does one nation conquering another. You could see them pondering ways in which to a...

25. The Tyranny of Red Lights
(Analysis/Analysis)

...e I said so!” Yet, the government asks for participation.  The public is asked to comment on ideas for job creation, to create jobs by starting businesses, to take on risk.  When anyo...

26. X Challenge: Develop the cheapest most effective school
(Analysis/Analysis)

When South African Airways was the only carrier a round-trip from Johannesburg to Cape Town used to cost over  $ 1 000 for the two-hour flight.  Hardly anyone flew and the two main cities in

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

...ew the seeds of corruption. Where there is a great deal of trade, finance moves in to fund new business ideas.  As the dotcom era proved: no amount of available capital in South Africa was able ...

28. Investor Orientation for Development Ratings
(Events/Events)

... ability and willingness to deliver on the needs identified within their target sector. Openness to new ideas in an ever-changing development environment is critical to providing better service.&nbsp...

29. Senescence, the death of development
(Analysis/Analysis)

...then a gradual realisation that trade between mutually strong communities creates vastly more wealth and ideas than does one nation conquering another. We would be entirely dependent on their technolo...

30. 1 Why are development ratings necessary?
(FAQs/Rating FAQs)

...ly high. There is plenty of money but, despite the runaway success of many economic systems, the central ideas of development still rely on instinct rather than quantitive data and feedback. Many of t...

31. Research Reports, eBooks and Ideas
(Static Content)

Whythawk does not only perform ratings. Analysts regularly work on ideas that help to enhance the informal sector and grow investment. The best of these are collated and published here for general dis

32. Ideas and challenges for promoting economic development
(Category List)

Whythawk does not only perform development ratings. Analysts regularly work on ideas that would help to enhance the development sector and end dependency. The best of these are collated and publishe