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Should taxpayers subsidize philanthropists?
The Huffington Post carries a rare critique of big-ticket philanthropy. As philanthropists gain more influence and tread on issues previously in the public space, does the taxpayer have to subsidize their view on how public financing should be spent?
Featured Posts
The catalytic philanthropist seems to have arrived. But is that a good thing? By putting faith in individuals is society not delegating responsibility for improving its lot to wealthy individuals rather than to the elected representatives that are usually mandated that task?
The FT is carrying a full page analysis on the impact that “vertically integrated” healthcare aid programs, such as for HIV/AIDS, have on public health systems in the developing world. There are some startling statistics on just how much is being pumped into these fashionable diseases – HIV, malaria, and into vaccine research. For instance, [...]
Education
Proponents of the OLPC assert that it is “changing education”, transforming students into self-learners, and making “discussions about whether to have computers in the classroom” obsolete. But in a world where schools still struggle to have a building and a blackboard, surely such enthusiasm is overstated.
The state of the US primary education system has important lessons for Indian policymakers. India’s goal should be to decouple educational performance from socioeconomic background. But this requires treating the problem of access to, not just quality of, education.
Politics
Anna Hazare may have placed corruption front and center on the public agenda. But the proposed solution will undermine India’s political system, which is working for many, and only shift the problem elsewhere.
There are at least two ways to measure a society – to what extent is it equal and to what extent is it just. America has failed on both counts. Developing countries, looking to growth must find better ways to protect their own populations from the vagaries of destiny and birth.
Environment
The true tragedy of the Gulf oil spill is that the political posturing of Obama and Congress will prevent those really responsible from being held accountable.
The WSJ argues that climate litigation is both frivolous, anti-business, and sets and a dangerous precedent leading to an anarchic world. Yet, a long history of litigation suggests that society is better for it. Despite the costs involved, the principle should simply be to let the truth prevail.
Health
The rejection of Bayer’s patent case in India is a landmark in defining the process by which patents are enforcable. It settles important questions on the limits of automatic patent protection provided by the system, providing a balance between private profit and public good.
Health policy and practice continue to be key issues on the development agenda. A short introduction to Global Health Ideas – a blog that has been following changes in that agenda and now has a new home.
Welcome to The Discomfort Zone
The Discomfort Zone is an online magazine presenting critical and objective opinion and analysis on issues pertinent to the developing world and to international development. It brings forth a global perspective to question the policy and practice of development.
Recent Posts
The OLPC project will launch its third iteration at this years CES, but 6 years after launch it may still not reach the elusive USD 100 target. Meanwhile, a small startup in Canada has orders to ship 2 million of its USD 50 tablets to Indian consumers. It is time the OLPC was put to rest.
Poor Economics is not your ordinary book on how to help the poor. Rather, it should encourage us to ask the right questions and to look for answers in evidence. Most important, it should force us to review what we know, or presume to know, about the lives of those we seek to help.
As emerging donors have challenged the established foreign aid universe, pressure has grown on them to collaborate with traditional donors. However, such calls are likely to yield few results – new and traditional donors have substantially different objectives. Most important, traditional donors demand coordination but offer nothing in return.
Anna Hazare may have placed corruption front and center on the public agenda. But the proposed solution will undermine India’s political system, which is working for many, and only shift the problem elsewhere.
The backlash against microfinance in India has exposed a fundamental contradiction of social businesses – that they are essentially businesses. Private capital may help them grow but it brings with it a strong tendency to turn social businesses from being social to being businesses.
There are at least two ways to measure a society – to what extent is it equal and to what extent is it just. America has failed on both counts. Developing countries, looking to growth must find better ways to protect their own populations from the vagaries of destiny and birth.
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