Developmental economist Bill Easterly has a blog called Aid Watch.
He starts off:
Today, I foist a new blog called Aid Watch on the blogosphere. The objective is to be brutally honest when aid is not helping the poor, but also praising it when it is.
The blog can be found here.
Archive for January, 2009
Jan26th2009
Jan23rd2009
David Brooks, writing in the New York Times, describes the fiscal stimulus bill making its way through congress:
The bill marked up Wednesday in the Appropriations Committee is a muddled mixture of short-term stimulus haste and long-term spending commitments. It is an unholy marriage that manages to combine the worst of each approach — rushed short-term […]
Jan21st2009
“I’m watching Barack Obama on television talking about his plan for a “pay freeze” for White House senior staff. This is a nice gimmick, but it’s stupid policy. The amount of taxpayer money saved will be tiny. Meanwhile, this sort of thing can have a quite destructive impact on the public interest. One thing any […]
Jan19th2009
Radley Balko writes:
After the 2000 Census, the richest county in America was Douglas County, Colorado. By 2007, Douglas County had fallen to sixth. The new top three are now Loudon County, Virginia; Fairfax County, Virginia; and Howard County, Maryland. All three are suburbs or exurbs of Washington, D.C. In 2000, 14 of the 100 richest […]
Jan17th2009
“Mr. Obama and the Democrats who favor labor standards in trade agreements mean well, for they intend to fight back at oppressive sweatshops abroad. But while it shocks Americans to hear it, the central challenge in the poorest countries is not that sweatshops exploit too many people, but that they don’t exploit enough. Talk to […]
Jan14th2009
Harvard University economist Ed Glaesar proposes a better stimulus plan:
Today, the New Deal’s heirs are vociferously arguing that more of the stimulus package needs to be spent on public works rather than tax cuts. The big-government skeptics point out that the government can’t spend hundreds of billions of dollars on infrastructure projects both wisely and […]
Jan13th2009
There are many arguments one can make against regulations. Regulations tend to reduce innovation, reduce efficiency, distort the market, respond slowly to change and can make the problems worse.
But what is perhaps most limiting of all, is the complete failure of regulations to do what they are supposed to. Take the example of the SEC’s […]
Jan12th2009
Writes Harvard University economics professor Greg Mankiw in the NYTimes:
Over the last century, the largest increase in the size of the government occurred during the Great Depression and World War II. Even after these crises were over, they left a legacy of higher spending and taxes. To this day, we have yet to come to […]
Jan7th2009
“Al Franken is about to be elevated to the U.S. Senate as a result of funny business. Twenty-five precincts in Minnesota have recorded more votes cast than voters on Election Day. Ramsey County alone has 177 more ballots than people who voted. The vast majority of these over-votes have gone to Franken. In parts of […]
Jan6th2009
One of the benefits of being the party out of power is that the spot light is on the other party, meaning they are likely to have more scandals and you, as an outsider, can sit back and criticize. So not to miss out on all the fun, I give you the Democratic corruption record […]
Jan5th2009
Obama Watch - President Elect Version
Published by in General, ModernPolitics and Personal. 1 CommentI am going to periodically give my thoughts on Obama’s actions, appointments, and anything else I may find interesting, with an overall rating on his performance. Today, I give you the President Elect Version.
Obama’s decision to invite Rick Warren to give the invocation at his inauguration has been much talked about. Some people call it […]
