Here in Ethiopia, 2001 is drawing to a close. Tomorrow is the first day of 2002 in the Ethiopian calendar. It is a time of renewal and celebration here – perhaps more than in European cultures (something like a cross between Christmas and New Year). The rainy season is coming Read more…
I’ve just watched Steve Jobs at the Apple event today. I was glad he paid tribute to the man whose liver he received, and that he called on others to register as organ donors. But it is less impressive to see people come to this issue only after they themselves Read more…
Over on Huffington Post, Seth Berkley and Orin Levine make a plea for the United States to consider an Advance Market Commitment for an AIDS vaccine: Traditionally it has taken up to 20 years for new vaccines to reach children in developing countries. The AMC can fix this inequity. Through Read more…
This is an amazing graphic: You can buy the poster here.
Ryan Briggs has a good round up of development-related podcasts Fall classes have started again so my time on the DC metro has increased greatly. The commuting has meant that I’ve been blowing through podcasts at an alarming rate, and I’ve come across a few that are worth sharing. These Read more…
I know it is a cliché, but if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. Oxfam’s new campaign urges us to believe that they have designed a package of measures that would give $280 billion to the world’s poor “without putting any extra burden on ordinary taxpayers.” Read more…
All foreign aid is, in the end, used to pay for imports. In a few moments we’ll discuss why this is true and why it matters. But let me offer two apologies. To those for whom this is a statement of the bleedin’ obvious, sorry for wasting your time. Please Read more…
Peter Mandelson has not thought this through: First, taking something for nothing, without permission, and with no compensation for the person who created and owns it, is wrong. Simple as that. With respect, it is not as simple as that. The reason this looks plausible is the use of the Read more…
I love this idea for making money from people who believe that the rapture is coming: We are a group of dedicated animal lovers, and atheists. Each Eternal Earth-Bound Pet representative is a confirmed atheist, and as such will still be here on Earth after you’ve received your reward. Our Read more…
It worries me that people who are interested in reducing world poverty leap so readily on the Tobin Tax bandwagon.
There are three questions to answer:
My answers are explained below the fold.
I can see why some people are attracted by a combination of extra money for the world’s poor and a poke in the eye for the unacceptable face of capitalism. But to support the Tobin Tax on these grounds is at best opportunism, and at worst reveals a hostility to the functioning of markets which will, in the end, not serve the poor.