Development aid critic William Easterly is once again stealing the show in economic blogland with his latest missive in the Wall Street Journal, this time covering why more government in Africa is not the answer to regional poverty. Along the way, Easterly makes his now-customary digs at various celebrity activists as well as Jeffrey Sachs's Millennium Development Goals and "End of Poverty" book. I don't know how I managed to miss it for so long, but there is a video excerpt online of a panel at the 2007 World Economic Forum featuring Easterly, Bill Gates, Paul Wolfowitz (key architect of the US invasion of Iraq and current World Bank president), and Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf (the first elected lady head of state in Africa). Moderating the panel is no less than Fareed Zakaria:
Hat tip to Jonathan for showing me how to insert this clip. Also, if you haven't read "The White Man's Burden" yet--which I suggest you do if you are interested in development issues regardless of your position on the efficacy of aid--there is a condensed version of this research accompanying Easterly's presentation at the 2007 American Economic Association Annual Meeting.
Hat tip to Jonathan for showing me how to insert this clip. Also, if you haven't read "The White Man's Burden" yet--which I suggest you do if you are interested in development issues regardless of your position on the efficacy of aid--there is a condensed version of this research accompanying Easterly's presentation at the 2007 American Economic Association Annual Meeting.