whythawk ratings: measuring effective development

1.
(Comments)

...s increase and their ability is rewarded then, yes, I am in full agreement. But if people see greater value in remaining outside the formal sector then it is up to the formal sector to increase its...

2.
(Comments)

...guards. It\\\'s a blurry line I know, but for me there is justification through at least the pretence of value creation that hawkers and street vendors have a far stronger claim to in my view. Addi...

3.
(Comments)

...individuals who start small businesses and create employment and further wealth. The sooner we learn to value wealth as a creator of wealth, the sooner we will discover how to address the problems of...

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

...mpanies that could never justify their expectations. During 2001 the Nasdaq stock index lost 79% of its value. And on 1st February 2008 AOL Time Warner stopped supporting Netscape. Between 1995 to ...

5. Funding departments instead of people cheats everyone
(Analysis/Analysis)

... favourite private schools. Government services have increased money supply without increasing economic value. Government has promised a service – quality education and health – and fail...

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

...ulawayo, lost their seats in Parliament. It is mind boggling how Zanu-PF view these veterans in terms of value. Makoni has disturbed the political status quo in Zimbabwe, Zanu PF is clearly shaken by...

7. Jacob Zuma, Inflation Denialist?
(Analysis/Analysis)

...oney is now a crime. Welcome to the world's fastest shrinking economy where the currency degrades in value faster than it takes to type down all the zeros; where inflation is no longer calculable,...

8. Exports and parliamentary laziness
(Analysis/Analysis)

... to produce those manufactures is larger than that required to send minerals to the harbour for export. Value-added manufactures are also more valuable in terms of exports, something that Deputy Dire...

9. Podcast: The US dollar's decline effects aid and trade in Africa
(Podcasts/Emerging Market Risk)

...urther development.  The US dollar declined by 30% during 2007. This has an effect both on the real value of aid and on the world economy. Download the podcast: The US dollar in Africa. This was...

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

"What is a coin compared to the value of the hand that holds it?" to misquote Terry Pratchett in his latest book, Making Money. Money, and the relative value of money, has always been of

11. Perlemoen and the Tragedy of the Commons
(Analysis/Analysis)

.... Medieval commons had no such mechanism. Everyone owned the right to graze, and so the grazing had no value. Starvation followed. The solution was as simple as it was devastating. The commons we...

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

...ing it to another place then you might do so. A person's skills are their own to trade for the best value they can get. Only a fool offers their best in exchange for the least they can get. By...

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

...nts. It is extremely easy to interfere with the productive use of capital. Inflation robs money of its value. High interest rates make investment in new ideas prohibitive. High tax rates and extor...

14. 100 Days of Sodom
(Analysis/Analysis)

...ht to housing: people will fight amongst each other for who gets seniority on the list, jobs of dubious value will be created and the state entrenches the idea of short-term contractual work as a sol...

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

...dent and wealthier middle-class. This middle-class bought houses. They borrowed more money against the value of their houses and improved them, raising property prices further and triggering a boom....

16. The Miracle of Investment
(Analysis/Analysis)

... on the thoroughfares. Hundreds of jobs have been created. Billions of rand has been added to property values. The old man with his chair led me through his house and showed me all the new ideas he...

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

... with 14% of the world's population and 23% of its land is worth only 2% of its economy. The entire value of African companies as US$ 800 billion of which US$ 600 billion are South African. Why ...

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

...to improve its flavour and alcohol content. Some countries still consider South African wine of dubious value as a result of these recalls. Now imagine if South Africa posed a "threat" in ...

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

...nisations that don't support brave innovators quickly lose them as they move to where they have most value. The migration of talent happens especially at the supra-national level. Millions of Z...

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

...of the consumer boom.  They haven’t. It may very well be that South African businesses see no value in the local informal sector.  The question is how did this belief form? A few hard ...

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

...eward. A society learning how to work on its own must set itself meaningful goals that are of immediate value. For instance, simply building a useful and well-maintained highway between the principa...

22. Atlas Shrugged at 50
(Analysis/Analysis)

...John Galt speaking. I am the man who loves his life. I am the man who does not sacrifice his love or his values. I am the man who has deprived you of victims and thus has destroyed your world, and if ...

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

...intends implementing expropriation of foreign-listings is anyone's guess. What he intends to do with valueless shares is another matter. The result is that the only formally employed people left i...

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

...risks for South Africa. Money is based on fiat, or trust. The money supply must reflect the underlying value of the economy that it represents. Too little in circulation and you limit growth. Too ...

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

...ons of listed shares and thousands of shareholders. These are the actual owners. The shares can return value in a few ways but the main ones are through dividends (a division of the profits in propo...

26. The war of informal markets against central states; a bellwether of support
(Analysis/Analysis)

... also acting to undermine the central state. The currency in circulation must represent the underlying value of the economy. Foreign currency entering the market has a solid, negotiable value. Eac...

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

...ace. By then a firm's reputation may already have been damaged. Besides the direct concern of the value of unscrutinised development initiatives is also the concern of the destruction of compan...

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

...ould return it, unpaid for. The manufacturers, desperate to recover some costs, would then unload it on value purchasers like Mr Price. Unfortunately, sometimes – despite the low prices &ndash...

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

...onising and insincere – is part of the problem that sees the west as preaching economic and social values that are not practiced. No wonder African countries relate more to China. This has als...

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

...ly. The modern web 2.0 companies permanently claim to be inventing a new future; one filled with common values, common decency and respect for human rights. All we're seeing so far is a pursuit ...

31. Melamine, China, and the peril for emerging markets
(Analysis/Analysis)

...ith local health rules, be they CE or ANSI or even HACCP.  And that this must apply to their entire value chain.  The real culprits here are corporations who – knowing that the deal wa...

32. Internet Bubble 2.0: the future of dotcom depends on the mobile phone
(Analysis/Analysis)

...com Bubble 1.0 burst.  With hindsight there were lots of reasons that it happened:  vastly overvalued stocks in companies that didn’t sell anything and lost cash in truckloads; massive...

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

... where terrorism seems like a reasonable response. While moving forward we must continue to redefine our values so that we don’t destroy every cultural icon people believe in.” These measu...

34. What market is worth R 100 billion a year and is growing at 10.9%?
(Analysis/Analysis)

...a whole new focus on HR and product development; never before will the cultural differences through your value-chain be so stark Try and imagine a 25-year-old business graduate having to learn from th...

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

...from a housing bubble. Part of the problem has been easy access to credit. Banks don't look at the value of the investment, they look at the applicant's ability to pay back the loan and thei...

36. Leveraging your good name; the power of a positive credit rating
(Analysis/Analysis)

...lop common reporting standards that allows for ratings to take place.  But, once it does, then your value as a customer should be reflected in ever better payment terms and prices. In the future...

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

...of prices. Intermediaries under-paid farmers, mixed the soya beans together in a jumble of low and high value beans, then charged ITC at the higher-value price. It was an inefficient and inherently ...

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

...vidual village subsistence farmers – more than 2.5 million of them across India.  The milk is valued according to fat content and volume.  They collect an average of 6.3 million litres...

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

....  Murdering idealists tells others that ideals, in this land, in this place, in this time, have no value.  Those who seek dreams should pursue them elsewhere. And then it is left to politi...

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

... the same compromise as above and will result in the same net loss. Better is the creation of long term value on which we can all build and which we can all ultimately share. In any investment, we mu...

41. World Cup 2010 asks for big sacrifices from the poor
(Analysis/Analysis)

...t, the question arises:  how much is too much? Numerous studies have been conducted looking at the value of the World Cup to our economy.  A Pretoria University study puts it at R 5 billion...

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

...of your property – your time – for some of their property – their money.  If they value your time at an amount that you are happy with then you will work for them.  It is o...

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

A particular focus of development is always on the value of ((education)).  Without a solid foundation it is impossible for people to look after themselves and they may remain reliant on whatever

44. The end of wild seafood and the myth of "free"
(Analysis/Analysis)

...otect them.  Carbon credits are an attempt to put a price on pollution. Yet any attempt to place a value on fresh water, clean air or available seafood tends to result in screaming and vociferou...

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

...early money isn’t the only problem. Money is not wealth.  Neither does it have any intrinsic value.  It is simply a physical reflection of the wealth in an economy.  Printing mor...

46. What do Richard Branson and Che Guevara have in common?
(Analysis/Analysis)

...capitalism.   Capitalism is not a political system;  it is simply a mechanism by which people value things they want and trade for these things from their possessions which they consider of...

47. Guide to Donating
(Analysis/Donation Tips)

...run a large organisation and produce results. But don't just take the CEO's compensation at face value; benchmark it against similar-sized organisations engaged in similar work and located in ...

48. Poverty: when second best isn't good enough
(Analysis/Analysis)

...e area was impoverished, it would be better to offer a scaled-down version of their service. Poor people value their money more than rich people. It stands to reason; they have less of it. Brands are ...

49. Lessons in sustainable development
(Analysis/Analysis)

... sombre lesson. Capitalism works, and socialism will kill you. When any good has a fixed (or, worse, no) value then its availability bears no relation to its price. The feudal system of the islanders ...

50. Interpreting Emerging Market Risk Curves
(Static Content)

...or exporting products than for local production, then the society will suffer from high debt, and an overvalued currency. This will serve to further reduce opportunities for local production and so de...