whythawk ratings: measuring effective development

1.
(Comments)

...vered in landmines. Protesting about this isn\'t going to amount to much. Western firms would love to invest but they can\'t. Politics keeps them out. Perhaps you should reconsider your disreg...

2.
(Comments)

... important appropriately and 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...

3.
(Comments)

...tate - would you be so eager to demand of them that they must first obey our laws and standards before we invest? Or do you think that, in investing, they would gradually adopt our laws and standards...

4.
(Comments)

You \"advise investors and companies on understanding the informal economy\" and yet you publish this nonsense? First, hawkers and car guards are very different. Try not to confuse them. Hawkers ru

5. Government and Business, Panic and Rescue
(Analysis/Analysis)

...d sometimes rises to the highest ranks of government. If someone is determined to steal then independent investigators, courts and auditors are the best solution. However, the question of poor overs...

6. The joy of a good biotech lunch
(Analysis/Analysis)

...e Cleveland-to-Pittsburgh 'Biosciences Tech Belt' in the US attracted $343 million in health-care venture investment to 45 companies during 2007. Clearly even small start-up companies can play in th...

7. The charity of dumping
(Analysis/Analysis)

... about life, but the ultimate result is the production of goods for less than they cost. This causes disinvestment; ambitious people migrate and businesses close down. Sometimes the most direct so...

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

...ians? Welcome to the miracle of the free market, where price fluctuations are critical to ensuring that investment takes place appropriately. Food production is a business, like any other. When f...

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

...of the disasters playing out in the credit markets today, future value, and opportunities for the poor to invest in themselves and create meaningful wealth, will only come about from a robust and heal...

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

...anies, and almost four times the value of all South African-listed firms. As the terror has taken hold, investors are selling their shares the way that depositors withdrew their money from Saambou B...

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

...y had gone to a state school. It has been a runaway success. From the state's perspective, private investment in public goods is a win-win situation. The initial investment doesn't cost th...

12. The tragedy of Burma, should we help, how to help
(Analysis/Analysis)

...itarian regime. As people, as fellow human-beings, we reach out to the victims. Yet, if companies which invest in failed states are regularly accused of supporting dictators, surely we may question ...

13. Mozambique's Lessons for South Africa
(Analysis/Analysis)

... came as a surprise only to the communists. Post 1992, little has changed beyond a dull acceptance that investment won't happen unless investors have some title to the property they invest in. ...

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

...ling and old manufacturing hubs in the US, Germany and the UK are feeling the pressure. Both workers and investors stand to lose what they have, their livelihoods. Arguably, it is the owners of thes...

15. Everything gets tested but political ideas, they become policy
(Analysis/Analysis)

...r all. Otherwise the choice they leave South Africans is to deny the nation either their skills or their investment. ...

16. The errors of selection and confirmation bias
(Analysis/Analysis)

...les lamenting the demise of positive thinking in South Africa. JP Landman, a well-paid executive at BOE Investment Research, declares that the messiness of the economy is a wonderful thing and that ...

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

...ate new industries or extend existing ones. The alternative is to promote private endeavour and encourage investment by businesses and corporations. All businesses require an upfront investment in in...

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

...ometimes those consequences aren't visible for a decade or more. A political decision in 1998 not to invest in new power stations – for instance – can result in catastrophic power fai...

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

...renaissance of ideas and economic growth is possible – was to call for a commission to be set up to investigate the causes of the turmoil. The violence is spreading. The same police who usuall...

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

In 2003 Hugo Chavez, president of Venezuela, took control of his country's oil production after declaring his lack of faith in private endeavour. He tore up the contracts that oil extraction compa

21. 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

22. The hazard of market dominance
(Analysis/Analysis)

...to temptation. Price fixing is one symptom of a wider economic problem. During the Competition Tribunal investigations into collusion, it is just as essential that they pay attention to the environm...

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

...fits away from the company, it also reduces their ability to pay salaries, do maintenance, or make future investments. They can choose to absorb the cost, by firing people or reducing capacity; or th...

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

Governments do not know anything about competition, innovation or the power of individual investment. The best they can offer is collective blame shedding and the waste of taxpayers' money on pop

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

...homes and businesses depend on Eskom for electricity. Eskom is largely state-owned and their pricing and investment strategy are controlled by the government. Plenty has already been discussed in th...

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

...abe 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 interested in preventing future...

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

...tle something that the poor never worry about: obesity. Higher food prices will translate into increased investment into agriculture and food prices will, eventually, stabilise and come down. There ...

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

...s of recent trends, comes into play. Business owners behave in a similar way. They have to decide how to invest their resources now for a future return on that investment. The more risk they imagine...

29. Exports and parliamentary laziness
(Analysis/Analysis)

...hat she look to government policy regarding economic policy support to encourage further such large-scale investments. Manufacturing, at 16.3% of GDP, has a significantly larger impact on employment ...

30. Podcast: China's expansion in Africa offers risk and opportunities
(Podcasts/Emerging Market Risk)

China is rapidly becoming Africa's largest investor.  They require little in the way of good governance and are aggressively creating new infrastructure in their drive to secure resources for

31. Zimbabwe
(Emerging Markets/Eastern Africa)

... the distribution of wealth beyond the political elite Governance + Independence of Law: the support that investors receive from government and the law Prospects for Local Production: the ease and pot...

32. Zambia
(Emerging Markets/Eastern Africa)

... the distribution of wealth beyond the political elite Governance + Independence of Law: the support that investors receive from government and the law Prospects for Local Production: the ease and pot...

33. Vietnam
(Emerging Markets/South-eastern Asia)

... the distribution of wealth beyond the political elite Governance + Independence of Law: the support that investors receive from government and the law Prospects for Local Production: the ease and pot...

34. Venezuela
(Emerging Markets/South America)

... the distribution of wealth beyond the political elite Governance + Independence of Law: the support that investors receive from government and the law Prospects for Local Production: the ease and pot...

35. Uruguay
(Emerging Markets/South America)

... the distribution of wealth beyond the political elite Governance + Independence of Law: the support that investors receive from government and the law Prospects for Local Production: the ease and pot...

36. United States of America
(Emerging Markets/Northern America)

... the distribution of wealth beyond the political elite Governance + Independence of Law: the support that investors receive from government and the law Prospects for Local Production: the ease and pot...

37. United Kingdom
(Emerging Markets/Northern Europe)

... the distribution of wealth beyond the political elite Governance + Independence of Law: the support that investors receive from government and the law Prospects for Local Production: the ease and pot...

38. United Arab Emirates
(Emerging Markets/Western Asia)

... the distribution of wealth beyond the political elite Governance + Independence of Law: the support that investors receive from government and the law Prospects for Local Production: the ease and pot...

39. Ukraine
(Emerging Markets/Eastern Europe)

... the distribution of wealth beyond the political elite Governance + Independence of Law: the support that investors receive from government and the law Prospects for Local Production: the ease and pot...

40. Uganda
(Emerging Markets/Eastern Africa)

... the distribution of wealth beyond the political elite Governance + Independence of Law: the support that investors receive from government and the law Prospects for Local Production: the ease and pot...

41. Turkey
(Emerging Markets/Western Asia)

... the distribution of wealth beyond the political elite Governance + Independence of Law: the support that investors receive from government and the law Prospects for Local Production: the ease and pot...

42. Tunisia
(Emerging Markets/Northern Africa)

... the distribution of wealth beyond the political elite Governance + Independence of Law: the support that investors receive from government and the law Prospects for Local Production: the ease and pot...

43. Trinidad and Tobago
(Emerging Markets/Caribbean)

... the distribution of wealth beyond the political elite Governance + Independence of Law: the support that investors receive from government and the law Prospects for Local Production: the ease and pot...

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

... state negligence has been regarding HIV / AIDS. Many large firms, from Anglo American to PG Glass, have invested in their own education and medication programs after giving up on the health departme...

45. Togo
(Emerging Markets/Western Africa)

... the distribution of wealth beyond the political elite Governance + Independence of Law: the support that investors receive from government and the law Prospects for Local Production: the ease and pot...

46. Thailand
(Emerging Markets/South-eastern Asia)

... the distribution of wealth beyond the political elite Governance + Independence of Law: the support that investors receive from government and the law Prospects for Local Production: the ease and pot...

47. Tanzania
(Emerging Markets/Eastern Africa)

... the distribution of wealth beyond the political elite Governance + Independence of Law: the support that investors receive from government and the law Prospects for Local Production: the ease and pot...

48. Taiwan
(Emerging Markets/Eastern Asia)

... the distribution of wealth beyond the political elite Governance + Independence of Law: the support that investors receive from government and the law Prospects for Local Production: the ease and pot...

49. Syria
(Emerging Markets/Western Asia)

... the distribution of wealth beyond the political elite Governance + Independence of Law: the support that investors receive from government and the law Prospects for Local Production: the ease and pot...

50. Switzerland
(Emerging Markets/Western Europe)

... the distribution of wealth beyond the political elite Governance + Independence of Law: the support that investors receive from government and the law Prospects for Local Production: the ease and pot...