Development Roast Giving international development a proper roasting

By Flavio Machicado If doubts whether the Chinese economy is in fact the new world power lingered like nicotine on a wedding gown the morning after, the upcoming Beijing Olympics will eliminate all delusions. The unipolar hegemony shortly held by the US withers away before our very eyes, and preeminence …

Climate change has suddenly become a hot research topic in Bolivia (1). The glaciers in the highlands are melting, the lowlands are flooded, and the government has declared a state of national emergency due to natural disasters. It is a good time to ask how climate change might be affecting …

If people married each other more randomly, poverty levels would be considerably lower than they are now. If we abandoned all current family arrangements and randomly grouped all Bolivians into new families of 5 persons, poverty levels would fall by about 15 percentage points (from the current level of 55% …

La Paz is one of the slowest growing cities in Bolivia, in terms of population. Every year, twice as many people move away from the city than move into it from other regions (1). Between 1992 and 2001, the city’s population grew a modest 11%, compared to the 60% growth …

One of the newsletters last month (How unequal is Bolivia really?) argued that it is better to measure inequality on consumption than on income, as income is very imperfectly measured, especially in poor countries with a large share of self-employment. The newsletter also suggested that when measuring inequality on consumption, …

“In Bolivia there are informals and there are idiots” Luis Alberto Quiroga The informal sector is often perceived as a sector for excluded, un-educated, low productivity workers who cannot get a “real” job. According to last week’s seminar on Informality in Bolivia organized by the Superintendencia de Empresas and CAF, …

“Putting off an easy thing makes it hard. Putting off a hard thing makes it impossible.” George Claude Lorimer If I were the mayor of almost any growing town or city in Bolivia, I would engage in land speculation with the municipality’s resources. I would buy up cheap land in …

It is difficult to imagine a country more unequal than Bolivia. Some people live in simple one-room dwellings without electricity, piped water, bathroom, or any other basic conveniences, and only get to spend a dollar on special days. Other people live in big mansions with home cinema, swimming pool, fitness …

“Sometimes when we are generous in small, barely detectable ways it can change someone else’s life forever.” Margaret Cho Generosity is a very admirable trait, but sometimes generosity backfires. The most horrific example I can think of, is poor parents chopping off the hands of their children in order to …

United Nations has named 2008 the International Year of Languages, recognizing that genuine multilingualism promotes unity in diversity and international understanding. While the first-best solution in terms of international understanding and efficiency would be to have just one universal language, there is so much nostalgia and nationalism in the World …