The Exponential Function

Youtube was made for this kind of stuff. Dr. By Dr. Albert A. Bartlett,
Professor Emeritus in the Department Of Physics at the University of Colorado At Boulder, speaking on the exponential function which basically stipulates that at 7% growth a number will double within 10 years. This applies to population growth, economic growth, energy use, etc.

The talk, entitled Arithmetic Population & Energy, is riveting for what it is - a classroom lecture with little in the way of pyrotechnics or dancing hamsters... although the tie is pretty awesome.

the Economist on drugs

boing boing recently blogged of a post from the economist magazine on how the legalization of drugs is the "least bad solution" to ending the drug wars.

Next week ministers from around the world gather in Vienna to set international drug policy for the next decade. Like first-world-war generals, many will claim that all that is needed is more of the same. In fact the war on drugs has been a disaster, creating failed states in the developing world even as addiction has flourished in the rich world. By any sensible measure, this 100-year struggle has been illiberal, murderous and pointless. That is why The Economist continues to believe that the least bad policy is to legalise drugs.

the articles touches on a few moral and health issues but its main punch lies in its economics, although it fails to fully develop these issues within its compacted argument. for instance, mark frauenfelder raises the issue of the expansion of the prison industry in the united states as a reason why legalization efforts will not gain traction. the economist does not attempt to contextualize the argument to today's recession. indeed, while the argument is listed as being posted on march 5th, the economist author makes a passing comment on how "the current American president could easily have ended up in prison for his youthful experiments with “blow”"

What Would the Poor Say?

Recently NYU held a conference entitled "What Would the Poor Say? Debates in Aid Evaluation". You can find many of the ppts of the talks here at William Easterly's new blog "Aid Watch".

I've only looked at a few of them, but I thought I'd highlight two of them who take fairly (although not entirely) contrasting positions. First is Esther Duflo's talk that focuses on the benefits of experimental design for improving aid interventions. The other is William Duggan's short piece arguing against just using statistical evaluation. He suggest two other methodological techniques: historical political economy and qualitative investigation. What I find interesting about both of these is that ultimately they are both asking the same question: what works? but with a very important difference in terms of what the explanation looks like. In other words, they are both looking to test and generate theory, but theory of very different types.

I think Chris Blattman's notion of Evaluation 2.0* nicely captures the means that these two seemingly contrasting approaches can be combined, namely by defining explanation as the identification of the working causal mechanisms. The answer to what works? is the itetification of the active causal mechanism (ideally the intervention), its structure, what its causal tendency is, and how it interacts with particular aspects of the context. In other words, relevant research question is: what works (or not), how, for whom, and in what contexts? From that we can move to the methodological design that provides the best possible answer given the research opportunities the intervention affords. 

* This notion of a causal mechanism has been around a while in the phil. of social science, but Blattman's example is nice and clear.  This type of theory is applicable at both the macro and micro level.

Mariana van Zeller

I must admit that I have a bit of a crush on Mariana van Zeller. She is a guerrilla video journalist, traveling to various corners of the globe to cover the grimy and striking images of development and its challenges. One of her recent reports is on the Chinese influence in Angola (in particular) and Africa (in general). Each story is compacted into about half an hour or less and while there is a political point to be made in each story van Zeller employs what I consider to be an evenhanded approach to often difficult (and dangerous) topics.



Many of van Zweller's stories are produced by Current TV as part of their Vanguard programme. Current TV is the ballyhooed venture of Al Gore that focuses on short podcasts instead of regular programming.

The above report on China's influence in Angola reminded me of my travels in southern Africa and seeing the influence of Chinese workers (in the construction of buildings, including the library at the University of Namibia) and hearing how the local populace feels about China's interests in Africa.

Barack Obama, Brazilian Style

PBS Frontline has done a story on Claudio Henrique, a black candidate for mayor in recent municipal elections who campaigned under his own name and that of Barack Obama.

The Places We Live

In 2008 the percentage of people living in cities surpassed that living in rural areas. A growing proportion of city dwellers is comprised of those who call 'slums' home.

A project of the Nobel Peace Center documents the experiences of living in four slums from different parts of the world. Jakarta, Caracas, Nairobi and Mumbai are showcased through a series of photos and stories on "the Places We Live".

It's an interesting exhibition and look into a side of development often sadly overlooked (although in the news of late with Slumdog's success...).

Is Slumdog Millionaire a Good thing or a Bad thing?

I had been looking forward to seeing Danny Boyle's frenetic new movie Slumdog Millionaire since the first reviews starting making the rounds last fall. I finally saw the flick last weekend with Christine at the World Exchange Plaza downtown in a crowded Sunday matinee.

As far as movies go it's a great escapist affair. Like Juno (to which the movie is being inevitably compared), it's a flat out treat that aims to please by appealing to what the audience wants to happen. It's not a difficult movie - not at first glance anyway, and most audiences will easily digest the cinematic experience without any indigestion whatsoever.

The movie also reminded me a lot of the Princess Bride, but that's another story.

When I reflected on the movie and considered its impact in terms of development, however, I came away conflicted. I am not an expert on India and so a lot of the political and religious subtext was lost on me, as I bet it will be for American audiences in general. In a biting op-ed piece a freelance writer in India questions the anti-Hindu sentiment expressed in the film. In the wake of the recent Mumbai bombings the issue of religion is incendiary and the film pokes me in a way that leaves me feeling uncomfortable. Someone who is more familiar with this debate would be better able to address this.

Another reviewer with the Guardian argues that while this is an overtly Western take on India, these sorts of critical movies are only possible outside of Bollywood:

The bitter truth is, Slumdog Millionaire could only have been made by westerners. The talent exists in India for such movies: much of it, like the brilliant actor Irrfan Khan, contributed to this film. But Bollywood producers, fixated with making flimsy films about the lives of the middle class, will never throw their weight behind such projects.

Responding to criticisms raised by Amitabh Bachchan, the blogger goes on to say:

Bachchan's blinkered comments prove how hopelessly blind he and most of Bollywood are to the reality of India and how wholly incapable they are of making films that can address it. Instead, they produce worthless trash like Jaane Tu, Rock On!! and Love Story 2050, full of affluent young Indians desperately, and mostly idiotically, trying to look cool and modern.

Another issue that makes me uncomfortable is the whole millionaire issue. Yes Jamal feels awkward in his position and says right at the beginning that money is the farthest thing from his mind (and his behaviour on the show indicates this)... but the equation of success with destiny is hard to swallow. All throughout the movie Jamal makes his own luck, finding opportunity and exploiting it to the fullest. He's an entrepreneur, and a relatively successful one at that. But the thing that raises him out of poverty is the tv show. As someone who studies development I find this perplexing.

Considering that Slumdog Millionaire is now poised to do very well at the upcoming Oscars, critical debate will likely increase and many of these issues will be dragged out time and again.

Of Icewine and Lingerie

CIDA was in the hotseat this past week for revelations that money has been sent to China to research the viability of fostering an icewine industry in China, as well as a separate sum (over 100 grand) to fund a sewing factory that makes (among other things) lingerie. A slightly different spin is here.

The Harper government has said it will be looking into the projects to see if they meet the priorities of CIDA programming. Many have questioned the support of business in a country that has seen mammoth economic growth over the past few years, especially when Canada has shifted its aid disbursements away from some countries to concentrate efforts. Others have pointed out that perhaps icewine and lingerie aren't the best avenues to development.

The Niagara Winery at the centre of the one project under dispute has argued that in the process of investment in the Chinese winery they have "guided them on human rights issues, such as hiring women." No examples are given and context is entirely missed but this is not the point of the article (nothing is found on the Pillitteri Winery website).

Pillitteri also had this to say:

You can't look at the CIDA program as a handout. It's not a handout. It's an investment. The government of Canada is investing with me to expand the markets for Canadian business but also to expand Canadian lifestyle, passion, ethics and human rights.

There's value in all of that.

The Sun article mentions an internal audit CIDA conducted into the business programme but I wasn't able to find it on their website. The Canadian Council for International Cooperation (CCIC) also posts some government reports (along with their own) but I haven't had the time to sift through them to see if the audit is there.

If anyone finds the audit please post to the comments.

Play Pumps

One of the NGOs mentioned in the post from the other day was Pump Aid. I haven't read into the organization but their home page states that "Pump Aid is a water and sanitation organisation that tackles poverty by working with local communities in southern Africa."

Currently they are operating in Malawi and Zimbabwe with a pilot project active in Mozambique. The pumps are called Elephant Pumps and basically rely on turning a crank to access water from as deep as 50 metres. A video of the pump in action is below.



At first I thought the author was talking about PlayPumps International. PlayPumps attempts to solve the problem of water access by using a simple and fun extraction method. Children turn a merry-go-round that moves water from the ground to a tank.



More videos can be found on the PlayPumps Youtube page.

Anyone know of other developmental projects that serve to merge fun with development? Right to Play comes to mind... any others?

Accordian disaster tent

Another blog I enjoy from time to time is inhabitat. As the site explains, "Inhabitat.com is a weblog devoted to the future of design, tracking the innovations in technology, practices and materials that are pushing architecture and home design towards a smarter and more sustainable future."

A recent post caught my eye, especially after reading up again on Afrigadget. Matthew Malone, Amanda Goldberg, Jennifer Metcalf and Grant Meacham have come up with an ingenious design for emergency shelters. Their 'recover' is a polypropylene origami wonder that is easily stackable, transportable and multi-purpose in that it can even collect rainwater.

More on the recover can be found at Yanko Design.

2009, the year of Ingenuity

It's January 1st - a time of both reflection and looking ahead. Given the current state of affairs in the worldwide economy and the constant threats of recession that promise bread lines or some hardship or another I'm reminded of that old maxim: necessity is the mother of invention.

I couldn't agree more.

I believe 2009 will be the year of ingenuity, where new ideas shift perspectives and create opportunities out of dire warnings. We have grown accustomed in Canadato the supremacy of creation, that faster, stronger, lighter is always better and having more is always better than making do. 2009 will elevate a couple of different adjectives to the forefront. While the things that have come to define consumption may remain guided by the slick and shiny, I believe a new prominence will be given to more pertinent items that are smarter or simpler.

An article I read the other day inspires this kind of optimism. Esther Addley, writing in the Guardian, chronicles the efforts of physics professor Josh Silver to develop eyeglasses that use syringes of water to set their prescription strength.

"Silver has devised a pair of glasses which rely on the principle that the fatter a lens the more powerful it becomes. Inside the device's tough plastic lenses are two clear circular sacs filled with fluid, each of which is connected to a small syringe attached to either arm of the spectacles.

The wearer adjusts a dial on the syringe to add or reduce amount of fluid in the membrane, thus changing the power of the lens. When the wearer is happy with the strength of each lens the membrane is sealed by twisting a small screw, and the syringes removed. The principle is so simple, the team has discovered, that with very little guidance people are perfectly capable of creating glasses to their own prescription."

Silver's design reminds me of a wonderful blog that highlights the intersection of necessity and invention throughout Africa. Afrigadget is full of personal stories of unsung entrepreneurs and hobbyists recycling local resources to better themselves and their communities. Many of the posts have an environmental message, whether overt or incidental, but all showcase efforts to find real and lasting solutions to common and daily problems. If the naysayers are right about the state of our economy we might just want to take a few notes.