Acton Institute Powerblog Archives

Post Tagged 'povertycure'

September 18, 2012

Petty Bribery: It’s Not Pretty

“Petty” bribery is an accepted way of life in much of the world. A person simply understands that he or she will need to “grease the palms” of certain officials in order to get a business license, a work contract or help with a legal matter. Continue Reading...
September 14, 2012

Playing at Poverty

Yesterday at Mashable.com, a leading social media site, an article entitled ‘5 Fun Games With a Higher Purpose‘ was featured. The article noted that these types of games attempted to combine fun with some sort of societal impact. Continue Reading...
September 11, 2012

Appreciating the Role of Subsidiarity

Subsidiarity, the idea that those closest to a problem should be the ones to solve it, plays a particular role in development. However, it can be an idea that is a bit “slippery”: who does what and when? Continue Reading...
September 05, 2012

Dalrymple: British aid to India only fuels corruption

You have to hand it to Theodore Dalrymple: he doesn’t mince words. In an August 2012 piece in The Telegraph, Dalrymple let it be known that British plans to continue international aid to India are a, well…bad idea: …our continued aid to India is nevertheless a manifestation of the national administrative, mental and ethical torpor, as well as incompetence and corruption, that is leading us inexorably to economic and social disaster. Continue Reading...
September 04, 2012

Are slums ever good?

It doesn’t seem that anyone would WANT to live in a slum. But that is not necessarily true, according to Charles Kenny of Foreign Policy. In fact, for many of the world’s poor, a slum can offer opportunities and services not available in rural areas.  Across the world today, thanks to vaccines and underground sewage systems, average life expectancies in big cities are considerably higher than those in the countryside; in sub-Saharan Africa, cities with a population over 1 million have had infant mortality rates one-third lower than those in rural areas. Continue Reading...
August 20, 2012

What is a social entrepreneur and why do they matter?

There is a lot of talk today about “social entrepreneurs.” What is a social entrepreneur, and how does that differ from a business entrepreneur? Why do social entrepeneurs matter? According to the Ashoko website: Social entrepreneurs are individuals with innovative solutions to society’s most pressing social problems. Continue Reading...