· Interesting post on Kenya’s new open data policy on Let’s Talk Development
· CGD’s new Data and Code Transparency Policy extends to working papers and is similar to that adopted by several journals, such as AEJ: Applied.
· New Finance & PSD impact note by Xavier Gine on the impact of the introduction of a commitment savings product for farmers in Malawi.
· Commentary in The Lancet blasts a recent Cochrane review on whether reduction of salt consumption has any effect on strokes or heart attacks (full text of the gated commentary is here). After the press release from Cochrane, Daily Express front page headline had read “Now salt is safe to eat – Health fascists proved wrong after lecturing us all for years.” The authors of the Lancet piece removed one study (from the seven RCTs reviewed in the Cochrane piece) because the reduced salt intake RCT was conducted among people undergoing aggressive diuretic therapy, combined the data for all the remaining six studies (instead of studying them separately for sub-groups as in the Cochrane study), and found a 20% reduction in cardiovascular events – significant at the 5% level (RR 0.80; 95% CI 0.64-0.99).
· Science magazine has a special issue on population – including an article revisiting the debate on unmet need for contraception discussed in one of our first blog posts.
· My nomination for least surprising research finding of the year: People are happier on weekends, especially those who work full-time.
Join the Conversation