Corrected development history of the United States
What if US development happened in line with approaches today? Here would be some landmarks along the way to success: July 4, 1776
"We hold these time-bound Development Goals to be self-evident"
1789
Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper ratified by the 13 states
1789-1861
Development takes off based on micro-credit to women to produce handicrafts
January 1, 1863
Lincoln issues Proclamation on Mainstreaming Non-Coercive Labor Practices
1865
US Civil War ended by international humanitarian campaign #LEE1865: rebel warlord to face the International Criminal Court.
1865-1877
Postwar Reconstruction led by Toms Shoes’ Buy One, Give One program for barefoot Southerners
1877-1941
Maxwell House and Folgers receive Fair Trade certification
1945-1963
Donor programs focus on reintegration of former child soldiers into the labor force
August 28, 1963
Martin Luther King Jr. gives “I have a framework” speech
1963-2013
China's American Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) opens its market to I LUV NY T shirts
If Christopher Columbus had been funded by Gates
America was discovered accidentally by a great seaman who was looking for something else, when discovered it was not wanted, and most of the exploration for the next fifty years was done in the hope of getting through or around it. -- Samuel Eliot Morison
What if the Gates Foundation had been involved?
(1) Gates Foundation announces the Reach the Indies Fund
(2) Columbus gets funding to test Going West approach
(3) Rigorous Evaluation design filed in advance to test effect of Going West on Reach the Indies
(4) October 12, 1492.
(5) Rigorous Evaluation finds no effect of Going West approach on Reach the Indies
(6) Rigorous methodology means Evaluation not permitted to include any ex-post outcomes of Going West not filed in advance in the design (3).
(7) Going West approach declared ineffective, funding ends.
Rigorous ex-post evaluation finds no evidence that Olympics produces Olympic medals
Using data conveniently available from the Peruvian, Ecuadorean, Bolivian, and Chilean Olympic trials, the study compared athletes who just made the Olympic team with those who just fell short. This rigorous regression discontinuity design allowed the study to identify the effect of Olympic participation on Olympic medals. The study found on average zero effect of Olympic participation on Olympic medals. This study found no evidence that the Olympics produces Olympic medals.
It is hoped that national sports federations will follow more evidence-based policies in the future regarding the Olympics.
Come fund-raise for us! We promise to make it nearly impossible
Imagine trying to fund a development research institute the Development Research Institute which includes at least some people obviously including the present author who seem to go out of their way to annoy, contradict, and insult every important and unimportant constituency in development. Maybe they'll like self-deprecating humor. Could you possibly raise funds for these people? To keep them in business? Wouldn't that be incredibly fun?
Now's your chance to find out. We are recruiting a new Assistant Director of Development for us and our sister organization Africa House (Development means here not what it usually means in our posts, but "raising money.") Please apply, or send us the names of your highly qualified friends who are too shy to apply. The links are all there, but if you want to discuss informally or just offer advice, please email Liuba Grechen at liuba.grechen@stern.nyu.edu.
