Reading this AP article about a Credit Suisse banker who was arrested in Brazil for helping rich Brazilians escape their own taxes reminded me of a panel discussion I heard last year. The link has audio for all the speakers, and I particularly recommend Raymond Baker's presentation. Basically there are a hundreds of billions of […]
Read this wire article on recent congressional testimony by Oxfam and try to determine what Oxfam is actually recommending that Congress do. It's tough. My guess is the author didn't understand what the testimony was saying. But the testimony is well worth a read. They got it right, but probably mixed terms in a confusing […]
The Global Philanthropy Forum (GPF) concluded its 7th annual conference in Redwood City, California earlier this month, featuring the Archbishop Desmond Tutu and other leaders, activists, and social investors engaged in global causes. Participants examined how their philanthropic efforts can strategically address issues including trafficking, child soldiers, hunger, education, and violent conflict. Looking to the […]
One of today's Op/Eds in the Toronto Star discusses the differences between US and Canadian charitable practices and raises a good point. The author starts off by talking about Oprah's Big Give (warning: annoying sound and video, not work friendly), in which two teams worked to improve conditions in a rundown US public school. She […]
There's a good, if somewhat long, article in the New York Times today about the fall of Australian rice production due to drought, and the effects that has had on world food prices. This is turning into an increasingly scary problem, and every major news outlet has covered examples of the scariness like the Haiti […]
Last week the Guardian ran an opinion piece by Julie Bindel on the use of female nudity to raise money for charities and causes. I have to admit that I hadn't noticed this trend, but Bindel provides enough examples to demonstrate that it does indeed exist. It seems to me that she describes two fundamentally […]
This article from the Houston Chronicle argues that a new Western Union product that allows immigrant to send money home by using their cell phones will serve to undermine the US government's current border security plans (the author disagrees with those plans, and thinks undermining them is a good thing.) I think remittances are great, […]
The International Food Aid Conference (PDF) will take place next week in Kansas City. This is event the brings together leaders in food aid from 25 countries, including the leaders of the US Government's chief food aid officials. They’ll be discussing some genuine issues in the field, including the rising price of food internationally and […]
Michael Gerson argues that there is a purpose to large aid programs in this wonderful piece on PEPFAR in Zambia.
The American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, published an interesting article on African development today. The author is Deborah Brautigam, a professor of international development at American University. She makes two basic points. The first is that a developing a more robust system of public taxation would have broad benefits for African societies. Besides […]
I like this PSA for Charitywater, an NGO that builds water pumps in the developing world. [kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/-AqlLyLeJuQ” width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /]
After posting about the upcoming NBC drama about a renegade, philanthropist billionaire I realized that I had some more to say. To be sure, the show does sound like an aid worker wish fulfillment fantasy. This guy gets to travel the world and really see his beneficiaries, and NEVER has to write a funding proposal, […]
NBC has a new superhero drama coming out next season, and the hero's primary power seems to be money. Like Bruce Wayne without the cool car. Our new hero is The Philanthropist, a “renegade billionaire” who helps those in need. I love this hollywood phrasing “Instead of spending $25,000 a plate at a fudnraiser, he's […]
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development recently issued a report summarizing the foreign aid activities of its 22 member countries – which includes all of the major foreign aid donors. A group of British PhD candidates who blog on International Political Economy give a very good rundown of the main points. They focus on […]
Alanna Shaikh (my wife) recently wrote a very useful post on how to research NGOs. To paraphrase her advice, there are ways that you can tell what an NGO really is – not just what its press releases say. To do this you have to put in some time on the NGOs website and Charity […]