whythawk ratings: measuring effective development

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

...s subsidy. Price provides feedback. If the petrol price rises then we try to drive less. If there are water shortages then higher prices punish those of us who waste. Eskom, despite terrible elect...

2. This festive season: the accumulating effects of individual activity
(Analysis/Analysis)

...vironmental effects of mass production are a major cause of global warming and the poisoning of our air, water and soil." This being the third-tier of their justification for promoting "hand...

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

...ttered infrastructure behind. A mining company investing in Cameroon also has to build railroads and deepwater ports, electricity generators, fresh water pipelines, and import engineering skill before...

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

... Infrastructure constraints: the general exile of capacity has degraded everything from sanitation, to water to power production, restoring this will take years. Revenge: the desire to revenge pa...

5. The Trouble with Paradise, or why Pakistan Sucks
(Analysis/Analysis)

... Billions of dollars was needlessly wasted. No-one talks about Bam. And now we have Pakistan awash in water and begging the west for money to help clean up the mess. I'm willing to bet that, a...

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

...oded. We have seen how fertilisers have killed the soil, creating erosion, vulnerable plants and loss of water from the soil. We have seen how pesticides and herbicides have harmed our environment and...

7. Dave Bullard and Graham Knox: "We can't walk on water so why not try wine?"
(Analysis/Analysis)

...rvous of the Californians, Chileans and Australians. One panellist declared, "We can't walk on water, so why not try wine?" The lessons from these are numerous. About not allowing dom...

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

...t, orientation. Tractors are linked via GPS to ensure that precisely the right amount of fertiliser and water gets put in just the right places. Sophisticated breeding programs and genetic modificat...

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

... be whether there is electricity for more than four hours a day, whether there is sanitation, or running water. If Yar'Adua delivers this, then he will be a good president." Professor Laure...

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

...campaign for the end of copyright and a "free culture" in which information travels about like water. He, and many in the open-source movement, have forgotten the duty that comes with exclus...

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

...nbsp; It is only through unfettered competition that the poorest amongst us benefit.  When purified water costs a packet only the rich can remain healthy.  When it costs cents then the poor ...

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

...ful to talk of connecting up our schools to the Internet, but too many schools have no access to running water, let alone electricity."  Worse than that: too many children still get taught s...

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

...earest formal bank, over poor roads, and with a high chance of being robbed of their cash.  Prepaid water and electricity meters allow the poorest to budget and buy when they need to.  Gover...

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

... elsewhere. And then it is left to politicians, pale parodies of real idealists, to attempt to calm the waters and lead on. There are no quick answers to these losses other than to say, keep dreamin...

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

...d for their patrons. “I wonder if it’s on purpose?” I asked myself as I mopped up the water dammed behind piles of my clothes.  The flooding was caused by a plumber who opened ...

16. Millennium Development Goals and the Measurement of Change
(Analysis/Analysis)

... 7: ensure environmental sustainability by halving the number of people without access to clean drinking water and basic sanitation Goal 8: develop a global partnership for development through a globa...

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

There are very few things in life that are free: air, water, seafood … not free in the sense that you don’t pay for them (water out the tap, fresh fish in the markets) but the product its

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

...ue.  Most of the agricultural land in South Africa is already farmed but the country, with its deep-water ports and good infrastructure, would be a perfect gateway for agricultural manufactures t...

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

...to appease environmentalists:  recycled asphalt parking lot, solar panels and a windmill for power, waterless urinals, efficient lighting. Major retailers have come out with organic and locally ...