Which do you prefer: electronic readers or books?
Youthink! asked people on Facebook and Twitter to weigh in on whether they prefer e-readers to books. See how students are benefiting from e-readers in Africa .
Books
Quote of the Week: Shaw-Lan Wang
“It’s not enjoyable to get information from the internet. A good book can touch your heart. But I have never had anything touch my heart on the internet.”
Shaw-Lan Wang, Publisher of United Daily News and Owner of Lanvin
Quoted in the Financial Times, February 18, 2012
Oops! International Literacy Day
Youthink! confession: What with launching our new site and all, we kind of forgot to make a note of International Literacy Day, which was on September 8. Well, our philosophy (one of our philosophies, anyway—we have quite a few), is “better late than never.” So, on that note, we’re taking a belated look at this important day.
The little data book is out, but for how long?
Whatever happened to output-based aid? Ctd
Editor’s Note: Lars Johannes is an Infrastructure Specialist in the World Bank’s Sustainable Development Network, working for the Global Partnership on Output-Based Aid (GPOBA). He is task team leader and advises projects in health, education, and energy.
Whatever happened to output-based aid?
Back in 2003, the World Bank and DFID launched the Global Partnership on Output-Based Aid (GPOBA). Output-based aid ties payment to service providers to the actual delivery of services in water, education, ICT, etc. The appeal is obvious—this is the kind of mechanism that helps "get the incentives right", thereby transferring risk to the service provider, increasing efficiency, and enhancing targeting of the poor.
10 PSD classics of the “Naughties”
As we say goodbye to the “Naughties” I thought it may be interesting to step back and reflect on some of the significant books of the last decade that really did change the way we thought about PSD and its contribution to development. Given the “decade” theme, I’ve limited the selection to ten, although the books don’t map to each year of the decade.
A coda to the industrial policy debates
A few months back, Justin Lin, the World Bank's chief economist, and Bill Easterly had a friendly debate about the merits of industrial policy. Lin has been promoting a concept he terms New Structuralist Economics, or what might more plainly be called Industrial Policy 2.0.
Weekend Reading
Regulatory failure, special interests, and financial sector lobbying: European Union edition.
Negative interest rates on T-bills: This time is different.
World Bank Events Shout-Out
The World Bank and IFC are featuring several excellent events this week that are well-worth attending.
Bringing Finance to Pakistan's Poor
Yesterday I attended the World Bank's book launch of Bringing Finance to Pakistan's Poor: Access to Finance for Small Enterprises and the Underserved. The authors, Tatiana Nenova and Ceclie Thioro Niang, interviewed 10,000 households from across Pakistan's geographic and socio-economic landscape, including both men and women.
What can the Aswan Dam teach us about building a safe financial system?
Back in grade school, I was the kind of kid who got excited about things like fractal geometry. I even went so far as to attend math camp one summer on the Eastern Shore.
The problem of the "development expert"
Last year Bill Easterly came out with some harsh criticism of the development community after the release of the Growth Commission report. The crux of Easterly's complaint: "this report represents the final collapse of the “development expert” paradigm that has governed the west’s approach to poor countries since the second world war." But the problem of the expert is not one that is limited to development institutions—it is a problem faced by all large organizations.
Blackbeard's co-op on the high seas
If you are looking for something a little different to read at the beach, then Peter Leeson’s new book on economics and piracy might fit the bill. In The Invisible Hook, Leeson applies an “economic way of thinking” to the actions of Blackbeard, Captain Kidd and co.
Dollars and sense
Think you’ve got better money management skills than the world’s poorest? You might be surprised to find out that you’d be up against stiff competition.