whythawk ratings: measuring effective development

1.
(Comments)

Laws / rules governing economic interactions have to consider more than just a present situation. What is different about Microsoft converting their popularity into a monopoly \"rent\" situation from

2.
(Comments)

...oncerned that profits may cause a company to rush an untested drug onto the market. That is where the law of consequences comes in. Companies that know they will be penalised for their mistakes will...

3.
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... lack of more fundamental freedoms like freedom of speech, freedom of association, equality before the law, respect for minorities, and consensual rule by the majority. The countries with the least...

4.
(Comments)

... South Africa. There is plenty of wealth in the informal economy - which is why it exists. All the laws that you mention are expensive and the very barriers to entry that attract traders into the ...

5.
(Comments)

...property, nor can I practice in the security industry without training and union affiliation. These laws are there to ensure a working social and economic system. The fact that the most impoverishe...

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

...fear reprisals. There are a lot of benefits to betraying the others first and cutting a deal with the law. That said, there are plenty of drivers that will lead business executives into temptation. ...

7. Of Chiefs and Presidents
(Analysis/Analysis)

... in Cameroon, leading to the deaths of over one hundred people. Biya has shown great disrespect to the laws that govern the people of Cameroon, including himself. Unlike Robert Mugabe, he is challengi...

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

...ple of his constituency. Most Politburo and high ranking members, particularly those from Harare and Bulawayo, lost their seats in Parliament. It is mind boggling how Zanu-PF view these veterans in te...

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

...s can leave the country. That's a huge investment for any private company. In addition property law in Africa is not a very definite thing. Whole industries, such as telecommunications or elec...

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

... self-sufficient. A government that has become so corrupt that it is incapable of supporting rules of law, recognition of property rights and defence of those rights is going to have a large and intr...

11. Atlas Shrugged at 50
(Analysis/Analysis)

...rs. The men of intelligence desert him, but the cheats and the frauds come flocking to him, drawn by a law which he has not discovered: that no man may be smaller than his money. Is this the reason wh...

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

... profits for those being assigned big cases. The following case history written by Dr John Grogan from Lawsure - providers of specialist legal opinions - is a chilling reminder of how far corruption c...

13. Zimbabwe: the Hollow State
(Analysis/Analysis)

...road. The long-term success of Zimbabwe depends not only on removing Mugabe and restoring the rule of law, but in creating possibly the most business-friendly, liberal economy in Africa. It would alm...

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

...es. Certainly, there are executives who are corrupt, just as there are corrupt politicians and corrupt lawyers and corrupt human rights activists. But when you accuse the means of your salvation of k...

15. South Africa's two tiers
(Analysis/Analysis)

...egislation has made the expense and learning-curve of joining the formal sector tougher. Minimum wage laws and labour compliance increase the costs of running a business. It can be debated endlessly...

16. Getting Home in Zimbabwe: The impossibility of public transport
(Analysis/Analysis)

...arket business opportunities, has recently completed research into the informal sector in Harare and Bulawayo in Zimbabwe. The transport sector consists of both state-supported parastatals, and the of...

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

... for which I am prepared to die," said Nelson Mandela speaking at his treason trial in 1964. His lawyer at that trial, and that of Govan Mbeki (our current president's father) and Walter Sis...

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

... Mountain, produced by the World Association of Newspapers demands that African nations abolish insult laws and set the rights to a free press high on their agendas. "Africa urgently needs a str...

19. When equality becomes unfair: South Africa's two economies
(Analysis/Analysis)

...re desperate for work.  They were digging for cockles, a delicacy in the UK.  Unprotected by law since they're not actually supposed to be there, the idle rich turn a blind eye to the ha...

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

...ats and Republicans whinge about worker's rights in developing nations. Democrats want to see new laws to protect these enacted. Both at home and abroad. Minimum wage laws, minimum conditions o...

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

...tive foreign policy that is destabilising the whole Middle East. The US has no respect for the rule of law." On being asked a question by a member of an opposition party at an official ID press c...

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

...lled on Kukah to be secretary of a commission to investigate the Nigerian electoral code. Hundreds of lawyers spent months creating a massive document to ease fraud at the ballot and reduce confusion...

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

"If I was a non-Muslim travelling by plane I would always ask for the halaal meal," says Saliegh Salaam.  "Not only will the meal be prepared to a significantly higher standard tha

24. Have you paid your car guard today?
(Analysis/Analysis)

...y called on stage to explain what was going to be done.  “Well, we’re going to pass a law to ban all activity.”  The song that followed was Bruce Hornsby’s telling &l...

25. Lawrence Lessig, take note: Digital freedom still needs digital responsibility
(Analysis/Analysis)

...ment. “With great power comes great responsibility,” as Spiderman would have it. Professor Lawrence Lessig, founder of the Creative Commons movement, will have nothing of these namby-pamby...

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

...ts section. UWC are quite excited about their speaker list:  "Creative Commons founder Prof Lawrence Lessig, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, Co-founder of the Apache Software Foundation and ...

27. From Linux to Mozilla: donations mean that open-source isn't really free
(Analysis/Analysis)

...nty of a commercial product. With proprietary software I know the price and companies are governed by laws that dictate what I can do if the product I bought doesn't perform as advertised. With ...

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

...led the quiet conformity and constraints of their communities and families to come to the distortions, lawlessness and abandon of developing countries.  They come without understanding the contex...

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

...ry. What’s good about all this disclosure is that – imposed from the outside – come laws and regulations that benefit South Africans.  Fraud and corruption at the highest level...

30. A story of an African Orphan
(Analysis/Analysis)

...rphanage fences. This feeling was very strongly expressed recently when pop star Madonna adopted a Malawian orphan. "How did she expect to solve Africa's problem by just adopting one child?...

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

...For Father Stephen Kumalo’s son, Absalom, has murdered Arthur Jarvis, a campaigning human rights lawyer.  The murder destroys not only the lives of those involved, but is also used by the A...

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

...can be in short supply.  Rather, nip the whole thing before it becomes rife by getting rid of any law that declares an entitlement; that anyone is entitled to something simply because of who they...

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

...The Chinese - as a people - don't have any of the democratic representation or equality before the law expected by developed nations.  So democracy is not a requirement for economic growth. S...

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

...e many.  We limit our freedom to act in exchange for the stability of a safe traffic experience. Laws are like that.  They are intended to create convenience, stability and safety.  Bu...

35. Is the ownership of property at odds with the needs of the poor?
(Analysis/Analysis)

...r person, or group of people, may own you.  Neither do you own the lives of others.  We have laws against slavery precisely because most modern societies recognise this right.   A prod...

36. Africa falling ever further behind, says UN
(Analysis/Analysis)

... deregulated allowing new businesses to be created.  Legal systems can ensure equality before the law, rather than entrenching rights for a small autocracy.  Systems for reducing legal and b...

37. No matter how hard you try bad environments lead to bad results
(Analysis/Analysis)

...f savage authority.  The physical shape of the cities was inspired by ((oppression)).  Every law, from drivers’ licences to business permits, has been inspired by a blood-thirsty dicta...

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

...ent and opportunities denied them at home.  Some have degrees or technical skills but immigration laws prohibit them from formal employment so they park cars, sell trinkets or wait tables. Some,...

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

...d is currently under plough.  And all this land lies in a broad swathe across Angola, Zimbabwe, Malawi, , Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and Mozambique.  Most of the agricultural land in So...

40. Interpreting Emerging Market Risk Curves
(Static Content)

... wealthiest, and 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 Produc...

41. Our Analysts
(Static Content)

...oduction of individual ratings. Norma was born in Zimbabwe and is currently studying for a Bachelor of Law degree with the University of South Africa (UNISA). Ronnellie van Reenen - analyst Ronnelli...

42. Terms of Use
(Static Content)

...s. The exclusive rights to all materials on this site are protected by South African and international laws of copyright, trademark and unfair competition. You agree to use our site only in a non-com...

43. Interpreting Emerging Market Risk Curves
(Static Content)

... wealthiest, and 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 Produc...

44. Our Analysts
(Static Content)

...oduction of individual ratings. Norma was born in Zimbabwe and is currently studying for a Bachelor of Law degree with the University of South Africa (UNISA). Ronnellie van Reenen - analyst Ronnelli...

45. Terms of Use
(Static Content)

...s. The exclusive rights to all materials on this site are protected by South African and international laws of copyright, trademark and unfair competition. You agree to use our site only in a non-com...