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Author: Elmira Bayrasli
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Obama to the world: Bring it
Tonight President Obama will deliver the State of the Union address. We’re all pretty sure that the focus of it will be unity, then jobs, jobs, jobs. (My guess on how many times he says it? 43). On Saturday, during his weekly radio address, President Obama gave us a preview of what it’s really about: [...]
Wonderment competition: What is development theory?
Leave it to me to pick out the smallest detail in an article. That’s what I’ve done in reading Robert Kaplan’s op-ed “One Small Revolution” in today’s New York Times. He writes about Tunsia’s revolution and what it means for other democratic movements in the Middle East. In doing so he notes that deposed Tunisian [...]
Ahem, what was that about human rights Mr. Hu?
Seems I’m not the only one who choked when Chinese President Hu Jintao said that he “recognizes and also respects the universality of human rights,” and that “a lot still needs to be done in China,” in terms of it. It’s one of the lead stories in today’s New York Times and the subject of [...]
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Africa, aid, China, developing world, development, President Hu Leave a comment
The irresponsible nation?
The yellow ribbons are what I remember most from that year. From the television images that flashed into our living room night after night, they seemed to be tied around trees all over Washington DC. “Why don’t they have them in Brooklyn?” I recall asking my mother in her native Turkish “Well, the hostages are [...]
Posted in Uncategorized 6 Comments
When is aid enough?
Today’s New York Times has me thinking, when is aid enough? It was prompted by two pieces, one an op-ed by Adam Hochschild on Patrice Lumumba‘s assassination 50 years ago. The other, a report (buried under the fold on page four) about Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier’s, Haiti’s former authoritarian president, surprising return to Haiti. That today is [...]
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged aid, aid effectiveness, Dead Aid, Duvalier, Haiti, Lumumba, Papa Doc 1 Comment
Development choices: The poor or profits?
(updated) Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel Prize winning founder of the Grameen Bank, writes in today’s New York Times that microcredit has “give(n) rise to its own breed of loan sharks.” He’s troubled, in particular, with the “commercialization” of the industry, formed, as he says to “provide small loans that people, especially poor women, could use to [...]
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged economic development, microcredit, microfinance, microlending, profit, Yunus 1 Comment
“Exploding misconceptions”
Yesterday’s shooting of Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and several others prompted a furious Twitter debate about whether or not the incident was “terrorism.” MSNBC’s @keitholbermann believed so, as did several others, including @sumner, who asked “If this isn’t terrorist activity, what is?” Others chose to call not the incident but the alleged shooter, Jared Lee [...]
Twitter do’s, apply to life too…
“Quick turn on your TV,” my mother breathlessly shouted into the phone. “Matthew is on CNN.” She was referring to The Economist‘s Matthew Bishop, who made headlines after being stuck on British Air flight 183 from London to New York. The flight that landed at around 22:20 on Monday night, a day after the Big [...]
Twins? Handel & Jay-Z
It is not uncommon to see the word “entrepreneur” alongside “rap artist” when describing Jay-Z. Founder of RocNation, co-owner of the 40/40 Club and investor in the New Jersey Nets, Jay-Z has extended his innovative hand into the boardroom. (For more, watch this great Charlie Rose interview.) He has been featured on the cover of [...]
Watching (and worrying) about Egypt