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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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 Posts:January 28, 2010One More (Insurmountable?) Challenge for Haitian ReconstructionBy Todd MossAs the international response to Haiti’s earthquake shifts from emergency rescue to longer term reconstruction, things are inevitably going to get harder. There are some very good ideas floating out there, not least Michael Clemens’ golden door visa proposal and Jeff Sachs’ urging for a recovery trust fund (It’s too bad he couldn’t resist swathing the idea in jabs at the donors and the United States). But as the donor community starts making that shift and planning projects, Joshua Nadel, a professor of Caribbean history, has this very good reminder: Read More… 3 Comments »January 5, 2010After the Plane Bomber, Where in the World is Nigeria’s President?By Todd MossThis entry was also posted on the Huffington Post, AllAfrica, and Sahara Reporters.
14 Comments »December 21, 2009The Development-Counterterrorism Front: MaliBy Todd MossIf you are looking for a microcosm of the U.S. struggle to fight extremism with a development face, look no further than Mali. Karin Brulliard’s excellent piece in today’s Washington Post (Africa on the front page!) explains the context just right: a poor country, long a crossroads of different cultures welcomed by tolerant Islam, is facing new pressures from foreign influences, including spillover from internal Algerian strife. The U.S. is trying to build Malian capacity to contain terrorist groups and also to promote development as a deterrent to the lure of recruiters. But, as Brulliard hints, we don’t really know how well we are doing, nor whether our efforts are misdirected. This is an issue we at CGD will be looking at more closely over the next few months: how does development fit within a counter-terrorism strategy? Read More… Comment »December 16, 2009Views from Tunis: The African Development Bank’s New BlogBy Todd MossKudos to our friends at the African Development Bank for their recent launching of a new blog, Building Africa Today. So far it is providing regular updates of African currencies, stock markets, commodities, and other data relevant to those following economic trends on the continent. Any quick scan of the blog also shows that this is not your father’s AfDB of the 1980s: the blog and the Bank are both heavily focused on private sector activity. Read More… Comment »December 4, 2009What Will Happen to British Development Policy If (When) the Tories Win Next Year?By Todd Moss
We got a window into what may happen yesterday when we hosted Andrew Mitchell, the shadow secretary of state for international development, ostensibly the man in line to take over DFID if there is indeed a change in government. Mitchell’s pithy and energetic speech was largely based on the party’s “green paper” which lays out its own strategy to fight global poverty. The Tory plans include many elements that you would expect from the party of John Major and Margaret Thatcher: emphasis on taxpayer value, promotion of the private sector, and more reliance on the market. (My favorite line from the exec summary: “We bring a natural scepticism about government schemes.”). But here are my main take-aways, which include some surprises: Read More… 3 Comments »December 1, 2009What to Do with USAID? Lessons from KabulBy Todd MossVery interesting op-ed in Sunday’s WashPost on U.S. efforts to promote health care in Afghanistan that cuts to the heart of the debate over integrating development into U.S. foreign policy. The authors, two noted health experts, claim that American programs have done immediate good: up to 100,000 infants and children have been saved from early death this year alone. Perhaps more importantly for the long-term:
But they warn:
And the real kicker:
This story encapsulates the current debate and all the underlying tensions over what to do with USAID (autonomous cabinet agency? More integrated into State? Subsumed into DoD?) My own view is that long-term “institution building” is always going to get crowded out by shorter-term security and diplomatic demands. It seems unrealistic to ever expect USAID to try to resist this or to be able to do both well, no matter what kind of beautiful restructuring we do or how much cover the White House thinks it can provide. To me, it would appear much better to recognize this and just have cleaner lines of responsibilities: let USAID do humanitarian, post-conflict, and other emergency assistance; State can handle counterterrorism, diplomatic bribery, etc.; and leave the long-term stuff that you want to insulate strictly to MCC and the multilaterals, especially the World Bank. Perhaps this is also too naïve? 1 Comment »November 24, 2009Cash for Poor Countries, or Another Round of Subprime Lending?By Todd MossThis is a joint post with Benjamin Leo. A special new lending facility was announced in July 2009 with the objective of providing up to $17 billion in new loans through 2014 and, to entice cash-strapped borrowers, the lender is waiving interest payments for the first two years. This may sound like dangerous new short-term teaser offers for sub-prime borrowers. But this isn’t coming from Countrywide Financial. It actually is a new IMF facility for low-income countries, including some of heavily indebted poor countries (HIPCs) who are just barely coming out of the last debt crisis. The stated objectives of the new IMF facility are laudable: to offset the effects of the global economic crisis by boosting international reserves and supporting adjustment policies. And yes, the overall terms are more concessional than past IMF loans. Nonetheless, the net impact on national debt levels may be significant. And it was just four years ago that the IMF committed to cancel roughly $6 billion in bad loans to many of these very same countries. Comment »November 17, 2009A Question for Raj Shah: How to bring Order to U.S. Support for Business Climate Reforms?By Todd MossGiven his background, Raj Shah is well placed to lead U.S. development efforts in the already-big areas of global health and agriculture. But I hope that a small portion of his attention can bring some strategic focus to another set of issues that may be even more critical to the long-term fight against poverty: business climate reforms. Read More… 1 Comment »September 30, 2009The U.S. Dilemma over How to Help Zimbabwe: Some Ideas from My Congressional TestimonyBy Todd Moss
7 Comments »August 12, 2009Despite Obama in Ghana, a Bad Month for African DemocracyBy Todd MossPresident Obama’s trip to Ghana was a celebration of African democracy. Similarly, Secretary Clinton’s ongoing 7-country, 11-day trek across the continent will hit the democracy promotion theme, especially during her stop today in Nigeria. But it’s hardly been a good month for democracy in Africa: Read More… Comment »July 31, 2009What Can Africa Hope For During Clinton Visit?By Todd MossThis blog also appeared on the Huffington Post Comment »July 13, 2009A New (and Optimistic) Open Book: Kenny’s Success of DevelopmentBy Todd MossOur friend and colleague Charles Kenny has taken a leap into the world of Open Book Blogging, with his excellent early draft of The Success of Development. Like my CGD colleague David Roodman, who is writing a book on microfinance through a similar format, this is a brave venture to put draft work up for all to see—and criticize. But then that’s precisely the point. Read More… Comment »July 6, 2009Obama Right to Highlight Ghana’s Success, But Will Oil Be the Spoiler?By Todd Moss
6 Comments »June 9, 2009What Would Barack Obama Be Like If He Was Still President in 2051? Ask GabonBy Todd MossWhat would Barack Obama be like if he was still president in 2051? We would expect that despite whatever initial good intentions, that four decades in power would inevitably give way to entrenched corruption, mindless sycophancy, and probably destroy our democracy. Such an outcome is not only barred by the U.S. constitution, but sounds like an absurd question today. Read More… 1 Comment »April 22, 2009The Media Blitz of Dambisa Moyo’s Dead Aid is Far from DeadBy Todd MossI had the privilege of speaking at Dambisa Moyo’s first Washington DC event, held recently at the Cato Institute (watch the webcast here). Her book Dead Aid is a full-frontal attack on aid to Africa (and has attracted an extraordinary amount of media attention). As much of my own work has been highly critical of the aid business, it was somewhat unusual (and a little awkward) to find myself mostly defending foreign aid. While I disagree with her characterization and have several major problems with the book, I do believe her frustration is both genuine and widely held across Africa. For no other reason than this, it should not be dismissed, as some reviewers have tried to do. Read More… 1 Comment »March 25, 2009No “Reset” Button for South Africa EitherBy Todd MossAnne Applebaum’s op-ed today is a reminder that just having a new U.S. administration with a boatload of goodwill won’t necessarily deal with underlying policy differences in our foreign relations, hokey plastic “reset” buttons aside. Applebaum was referring to Russia, but this seems to apply equally to South Africa. One of the first tasks of the new Africa team at the State Department (Ambassador Johnnie Carson was nominated to be Assistant Secretary this week) will be to try to rebuild the relationship with the continent’s largest regional power. While America has built solid partnerships with many African nations, relations with South Africa are deeply fraught. Read More… Comment »February 2, 2009Albert Einstein, Zimbabwe’s Well-Suited Snakes, and New Depths of Futility!By Todd MossYes, yes, there is finally agreement on Morgan Tsvangirai joining the national unity government in Zimbabwe. But before anyone gets their hopes up too far, let’s remember what Robert Mugabe did immediately after signing the power-sharing deal last September: grabbed all the meaningful cabinet posts, blocked Tsvangirai from travelling, and launched a new campaign of violence and kidnapping against human rights activists. Why should SADC – or anyone – expect things to be different this time around? Comment »January 15, 2009Advice to Obama’s Africa Team: Don’t Change Too MuchBy Todd MossThe following commentary originally appeared on the impressive new global news site, GlobalPost 2 Comments »January 8, 2009Memo to President-Elect Obama: Three Steps for Restoring Democracy to ZimbabweBy Todd Moss
8 Comments »January 7, 2009The Other Inauguration to be CelebratedBy Todd Moss
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