In which I debate the costs and benefits of polio eradication, and conclude, boringly, it is a great idea.
Charles Kenny
Books, Papers and Articles
Charles Kenny writes about global development — what’s working, what isn’t, and how the world can do better. An economist who spent fifteen years at the World Bank, he is now a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development in Washington, DC.
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The Optimist column pushes for shcanges to migration regulations to allow more Haitians into the US as part of the disaster relief effort.
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Concrete as a vital tool for development –the Optimist column.
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An article for the UK Observer pointing to UK and global progress in income, health, crime and violence, global liberty and (even) the environment.
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An online piece for Bloomberg Businessweek suggests buying stocks in companies that do good stuff in Africa.
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My Optimist column reports on improving global attitudes and behavior.
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More Money or More Development is a CGD Working Paper with Andy Sumner. What have the MDGs achieved? And what might their achievements mean for any second generation of MDGs or MDGs 2.0? We argue that the MDGs may have played a role in increasing aid and that development policies beyond aid quantity have seen some limited improvement in rich countries (the evidence on policy change in poor countries is weaker). Further, there is some evidence of faster-than-expected progress improving quality of life in developing countries since the Millennium Declaration, but the contribution of the MDGs themselves in speeding that progress is—of course—difficult to demonstrate even assuming the MDGs induced policy changes after 2002. The paper reflects on what the global goal setting experience of the MDGs has taught us and how things might be done differently if there is a new round of MDGs after 2015. The authors conclude that any MDGs 2.0 need targets that are set realistically and directly link aid flows to social policy change and to results. It was picked up in the Ottowa Citizen.
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After the disappointment at Durban, this Businessweek article suggests that big, complex global problems like climate change can be tackled through other routes than a big, complex globally binding treaty like Kyoto.
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This essay for CGD critiques the UN Broadband Commision's reports which suggest broadband is vital to meet the Millennium Development Goals. It isn't.
Charles Kenny 