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Independent research & practical ideas for global prosperity
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Independent research & practical ideas for global prosperity
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Global Prosperity Wonkcast
Archive for August, 2010Ben Leo: Who Are The Millennium Development Goal Trailblazers?August 24, 2010Posted by Lawrence MacDonald in Africa, Aid Effectiveness, Global Development, Poverty Tags: Ben Leo, MDGs
As the UN prepares for the MDG Review Summit next month, the conventional wisdom is that the global progress has been adequate—mostly because of China’s huge size and rapid poverty reduction—but that Africa lags sadly behind. Ben says that this view is overly simplistic, if not just plain wrong. Africa accounts for four of the fifteen countries ranked as “trailblazers,” on track to reach at least half of the examined MDG indicators by the 2015 target year (they are: Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, and Uganda). Notwithstanding that the MDGs are wildly over ambitious given historical rates of progress (see here and here), Ben finds that low-income countries have made as much progress as middle-income countries. And some countries that we might expect to see on the trailblazer list, such as Tanzania, have performed poorly. Podcast: Play in new window | Download 4 Comments »Ruth Levine on Start with a Girl: A New Agenda for Global HealthAugust 17, 2010Posted by Lawrence MacDonald in Global DevelopmentThe Wonkcast is taking a brief summer vacation. We’ve selected this show from our archives- it was originally posted on November 9, 2009. Since the show first aired, Ruth Levine, formerly a Senior Fellow and Vice President here at CGD, has moved to USAID to serve as Director of Evaluation, Policy Analysis & Learning.
“Women and girls in many senses really hold the key not only for their own health but for the health of their children and their broader communities,” Ruth tells me. Recognizing that fact and directing our investments accordingly, she says, can lead to better solutions for a wide range of problems—everything from economic development to HIV/AIDS. Podcast: Play in new window | Download Comment »Connecting Citizens: Rakesh Rajani on Public Accountability in East AfricaAugust 10, 2010Posted by Lawrence MacDonald in Global DevelopmentThe Wonkcast is taking a brief summer vacation. We’ve selected this show from our archives- it was originally posted on March 30, 2010.
Rakesh tells me that cellphone use has exploded in the last decade in Tanzania, rising from perhaps 200,000 users to over 14 million today. Except for the most remote areas of the country, he says, just about everyone can access a mobile phone. That new connectivity, Rakesh explains, has opened new channels for reducing corruption in government. Podcast: Play in new window | Download Comment »Paul Romer’s Bold New Idea for Charter CitiesAugust 3, 2010Posted by Lawrence MacDonald in Global DevelopmentThe Wonkcast is taking a brief summer vacation. We’ve selected this show from our archives- it was originally posted on April 23, 2010.
The two ideas at the heart of Paul’s proposal are, first, that good rules are fundamental to development and, second, that new cities might be able to draw their rules, people, and land from different sources. He argues that inadequate property rights, legal systems, and other types of rules hold back development in poor countries. If the residents of a poor country could choose to live in a new city, governed by the rules of a well-functioning country, they might benefit enormously. If good rules are in place, Paul says, where that city is located doesn’t matter much. Podcast: Play in new window | Download Comment »
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Which countries are leading the pack on achieving the Millennium Development Goals? My guest this week is CGD research fellow Ben Leo. In 
What are the benefits of focusing specifically on girls when we invest in development? My guest this week is Ruth Levine, an expert on health and education who for the past two years has focused much of her work on adolescent girls. She’s the co-author of a recently released CGD report titled 
Has technology boosted the ability of citizens in African countries to influence their governments? This week, I’m joined by Rakesh Rajani, founder and head of 
The planet’s population will swell by two to three billion people over the next few decades. Where will all those people live? My guest on this week’s Global Prosperity Wonkcast has a bold new idea. 
