Development Roundup: September 2019

Welcome to Development Roundup, a new series on the Redefining Aid blog where I’ll share what I’ve been reading in the world of international development.

·      Dave Evans from the Center for Global Development discusses the gap in global education outcomes. What I found most striking here: At current pace, it could take up to 75 years for a middle-income country to catch up to high-income countries in learning outcomes.

·      Haiti is experiencing a fuel shortage that is leading to power blackouts around the country. For a refresher on Haiti’s ongoing fuel crisis, read my blog post from earlier this year “Haiti’s Fuel Subsidies Are Hurting People – So Are Plans to Get Rid of Them”

·      What happens when you pay teachers more in developing countries? Do you recruit more talented educators, do the current teachers work harder, a little of both?

·      As the U.S. government continues to discuss slashing foreign aid spending (most of which is operated by USAID), Josh Allen discusses why U.S. foreign aid is worth defending.

·      Why is it so hard to measure poverty impacts? To understand this, we need to take a harder look at how we measure poverty in the first place.

·      To make progress in fighting poverty, we have to take rigorous evaluations seriously. (It’s no secret why I liked this article so much.)

Have you read anything interesting lately in the world of international development? Share it with me!