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After the World Cup: Policy Dilemmas Tackle South African Government

Submitted by Sandeep Mahajan on Tue, 2010-08-24 13:09

The 2010 FIFA World Cup drew to a close on July 11, 2010, with a Spanish victory and a thunderous ceremony. South Africa took a bow as the world applauded its wonderful organization of the high profile tournament.

A record number of people across the globe viewed the tournament, and the crime rate was the lowest of any World Cup. The direct economic impact of the event is estimated at around 0.5% of GDP in 2011, and the tournament did much to burnish South Africa’s image across the world as an attractive tourist destination.

Sadly, the real drama started after the curtains came down on the World Cup.

In particular, a coalition of unions, representing over one million-public servants -- including teachers, doctors, nurses, police, and court and government officials -- has launched an indefinite strike after the unions’ demand for an 8.6% salary increase (plus 1,000 rand monthly housing allowance) was rejected by the Government.

Patrick v. Shanta, Round 2

Submitted by Shanta on Mon, 2010-08-23 10:52

Patrick Bond’s lengthy comment on my response to his blog post merits a separate blog post.

Patrick:
Thanks for your response.  It appears as if there are at least four areas where we end up agreeing, except that I reach these conclusions using economic reasoning, which also serves to highlight some differences.

1. I’m glad you agree that there is a difference between accounting and economic welfare.  But you still don’t seem to accept the result of my simple example of two countries (one following a wasteful trajectory and the other the optimal one) that genuine savings is the same in both cases. 

Natural Resources and the Washington Consensus

Submitted by Shanta on Tue, 2010-08-17 14:23

In a recent interview on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, I reacted to statements by Patrick Bond on Africa’s export of raw materials and on structural adjustment policies. I said that the problem with natural resources was not that Africa exports them, but that many African governments have not used the revenues from these resources productively. On structural adjustment, I said that policies followed by the better-performing African countries over the last 15 years were quite similar to those of the Washington consensus, but the difference was that these policies emerged from a domestic political consensus rather than being imposed from abroad. 

The Multidimensional Poverty Index Debate: rounds 2, 3, 4 …

Submitted by Gabriel Demombynes on Tue, 2010-08-10 10:30

There has been a first-class debate on various blogs on the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), including here, in this blog. Here’s a brief round-up:

Rivalité fraternelle au Burkina Faso

Submitted by Damien de Walque on Thu, 2010-08-05 10:38

L’école, une opportunité rare, objet de choix stratégiques dans les familles.

“Ici, pour les parents, l’école n’est pas une priorité”. Cette réflexion, empreinte de fatalisme, est souvent entendue comme explication des taux de fréquentation scolaire faibles dans certaines régions d’Afrique. Une étude récente menée dans la Province du Nahouri au Burkina Faso1  suggère que la situation est plus complexe.

A debate on multidimensional poverty indices

Submitted by Gabriel Demombynes on Tue, 2010-08-03 10:03

At Duncan Green’s blog, there is a fascinating back-and-forth on the UN’s new Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) between its co-creator, Sabina Alkire, and the World Bank’s Martin Ravallion. This is very much a live debate in development circles. The MPI is a descendant of the earlier Human Development Index and is similar to the various Unsatisfied Basic Needs indices long used in many countries.

I agree wholeheartedly with Martin’s critique, but Sabina does offer a spirited (and highly hyperlinked) defense. Martin’s emphasizes two points: 1) what’s the point of aggregating a bunch of indicators into a single index? and 2) the choice of weights for such an index is inherently problematic.

Comments on “Wax, Gold and Accountability in Ethiopia”

Submitted by Shanta on Mon, 2010-08-02 10:47

Last month’s post on the exchange between Helen Epstein and Ken Ohashi on Ethiopia generated a large number of comments (and rejoinders), a response from Helen herself, and references in the Addis press. 

One set of comments were about the facts. Many commentators questioned whether human development indicators were actually improving in Ethiopia, while others questioned whether the political situation was as repressive as described by Helen in her original piece in the New York Review of Books.  Some asked whether the facts coming out of Ethiopia (on agricultural productivity for example) were reliable.  Since these are questions of fact, they can and should be verified.

Another group of comments questioned my interpretation of the facts,

Why has the Malagasy economy not yet collapsed?

Submitted by Jacques Morisset on Mon, 2010-07-26 09:32

After almost one and half year of political instability, the economy is hurt but not dead. 

The formal private sector has revealed timid signs of recovery (far from pre-crisis levels) and the informal sector has been vibrant as the result of the good performance of the primary sector (mostly due to exceptional weather) and rising trade activities in urban centers. 

To see the full update on the Madagascar economy click here. 

Madagascar - Résumé de la note économique: Juillet 2010

Submitted by Jacques Morisset on Mon, 2010-07-26 09:20

Apres près d’une année et demie de crise politique, l’économie malgache  résiste grâce à la timide reprise du secteur privé, mais notamment au boom du secteur informel. 

Cliquer ici pour accéder à l’article (Madagascar Tribune 21 Juillet, 2010)

Wax, gold and accountability in Ethiopia

Submitted by Shanta on Mon, 2010-06-21 15:06

The exchange between Helen Epstein and my colleague Ken Ohashi about the role of aid donors in “subsidizing” what Epstein calls a politically repressive regime highlights the difficulty in linking politics at the top with poverty alleviation on the ground. 

Even politically open regimes, such as India, have difficulty delivering basic services to poor people—the absence rate for teachers in Indian public primary schools is 25 percent; the rate for doctors in public primary clinics is 40 percent.   Conversely, as Epstein points out in her reply to Ken’s letter, “poverty and disease have fallen sharply in some repressive societies, from Cuba to China…”