Afro-Pessimism is Misplaced is a comment piece for for This is Africa. It based on some of the arguments from Getting Better which, just in case you were wondering, you can pre-order here
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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Co-authored with my brother Robert, the latest FP column is the short version of our paper arguing that governments shouldn't subsidize fiber rollout. I'd wanted the title to be 'insoluble fiber,' but there you go.
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The latest FP column –what will happen in Southern Sudan after independence. (Answer: something between Botswana and Eritrea. What about that for exacting prognostication?).
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This column argues that traditional banks using mobile phones, smart cards and biometrics are likely to reach more people with financial services more quickly than microfinance.
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This week's column is on government contract publication. No, really, it is exciting and important. You know how Secret Santa gifts aren't usually as good as the ones you get from your loving spouse? That's in part because they are secret. The same thing applies to contracts. Sort of.
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Let There Be Light is the second weekly column for Foreign Policy –a paen to the light emitting diode and its potential impact in Africa.
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Learning About Schools in Development is a CGD Working Paper. It is a longer version of this, which itself was a revised version of this. There has been considerable progress in school construction and enrollment worldwide. Paying kids to go to school can help overcome remaining demand-side barriers to enrollment. Nonetheless, the quality of education appears very poor across the developing world, limiting development impact. Thus we should measure and promote learning not schooling. Conditional cash transfers to students on the basis of attendance and scores, school choice, decentralization combined with published test results, and teacher pay based on attendance and performance may help. But learning outcomes are primarily affected by the broader environment in which students live, suggesting a learning agenda that stretches far beyond education ministries.
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What Resource Curse? is the first of my weekly columns ("The Optimist") for Foreign Policy. It suggests there isn't a resource curse. But that doesn't stop EITI and Todd Moss' cash transfer scheme being good ideas.
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Good Ideas for Bad Times is the latest piece for Foreign Policy –it rounds up some new(ish) ideas related to development thinking including just giving money to the poor, geotagging, transparency in aid flows and new approaches to migration policy.
Charles Kenny 