Development Roast Giving international development a proper roasting

By: Lykke E. Andersen* There are many ways for a country to develop, but there is no way to develop a country: Development has to come from within. Just as you cannot help a child develop by doing his homework, giving him all the toys and candy he wants, and …

Last week’s post on the Principles of Education Reform caused quite some discussion among the readers, and there is indeed much more to be said on this important topic. Having benefited enormously from 20 years of excellent, free public education in Denmark, I wouldn’t dismiss the idea of public education …

It was recently shown in an academic paper (1) that the natural gas boom in Bolivia is likely not only to increase inequality but also to increase poverty. How can this be true? How can windfall revenues of $700 million per year, received by a clearly pro-poor government, increase poverty???

“Plato told Aristotle that no one should have more than five times the wealth of the lowest-paid member of society.” It has been reasonably well-established in the literature that not only absolute income levels matter for the level of happiness, but also relative income levels. You don’t like to see …

Bolivia is one of the top 15 countries in the World in terms of biodiversity and endemic species. Consequently, Bolivia is of high priority for the international conservation community and so far more than 16% of the country’s surface has been declared protected area. However, Bolivia is also one of …

The impacts of windfall profits such as foreign aid or hydrocarbon revenues depend crucially on how the money is spent and/or invested. There are basically the following three options:       1)True Public Goods: Theoretically, the most growth and welfare enhancing option is for the government to invest the money in …

It does not necessarily have to be expensive to improve the health of the population. It could be free – or even revenue generating!  Here are two ideas:          1)Slap a substantial tax on distinctly health-damaging products such as cigarettes: According to the World Health Organization, tobacco use is the …

There is arguably nothing worse for long run growth prospects in an economy than low social mobility. Without the possibility of advancing upwards in society, poor people have little incentive to work hard and invest in human and physical capital. Conversely, without investment and hard work, there is little chance …

“The bourgeoisie has subjected the country to the rule of the towns. It has created enormous cities, has greatly increased the urban population compared to the rural, and has thus rescued a considerable part of the population from the idiocy of rural life.” Karl Marx, The Communist Manifesto, 1848 All over …

There are many aid pessimists, like me, who would much rather be aid optimists. However, the empirical evidence on the effectiveness of foreign aid is depressing, especially in poor countries where aid constitutes a significant share of GDP, as in Bolivia and Nicaragua (1). Any particular aid project is unlikely …