I support the UK’s Secretary of State for International Development, Justine Greening, to co-chair the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation, which was set up in June 2012. The partnership aims to make aid, and other policies and finance from countries like the UK - such as trade, investment, remittances and technology - deliver as much poverty reduction in developing countries as possible. I’m an economist by training, and I used to be a Climate Change Negotiator. I am also a co-author of the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change and a winner of the 2012 Observer’s Ethical Award for this blog. If you like my blog posts, do also follow me on Twitter - @hmryder.
I live in Scotland. A lot of people are often surprised at that. They’re also often surprised to hear that DFID has a large office in Scotland, just on the outskirts of Glasgow. From my desk on the top floor …
I’ve just finished reading "When a Billion Chinese Jump" by Jonathan Watts. It took me a while – it's a pretty huge book, with copious notes to flick back and forth to. But I am glad I got there. Yes, …
It's a big week of change for DFID this week. Despite apparently being in the "sexiest" department in Whitehall (according to the London Evening Standard at least!) we're all actually reeling from the news that our fantastic Permanent Secretary Minouche Shafik …
Valentine's day, and yet another excuse to apply economics to daily life – yes you guessed it, a book called "Spousonomics". But despite my love of all-things-economics, this year I decided to gorge instead on a lovely box of chocolates, …
One of last week's editions of the Financial Times featured an article by John Kay, a top UK economist, saying that "clarity of thought and clarity of expression tend to go together". And he's right – presenting complexity in a …
I've been working with two of our Asian country offices this week – Vietnam and Indonesia – helping them focus their programmes on low-carbon and climate-resilient growth. Travelling back and forth to the offices, I've noticed some sharp contrasts between …
I’ve been a Senior Economist in DFID for just over a month. Many friends and colleagues are excited about my new role…even people I don’t know that well. My first challenge has been giving a clear answer to the question “what …
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