Over the past few weeks, and as I mentioned in a previous blog post, I've been continuing to help the DFID team in Ethiopia design an exciting new programme focused on supporting new small and medium enterprises and entrepreneurs, including …
"Green growth" is en vogue in the development and international affairs world. The Republic of Korea has created a new Global Green Growth Institute, and a major UN Summit to be held in Rio de Janeiro in July 2012 will …
As a development economist, I’m itching to read Poor Economics, the new book by the amazing Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee. Unfortunately, it's not yet widely available in UK bookshops. Thankfully, there’s a wonderful visual web version of the book's key findings, …
Most week days, I wake up at around 6.30am to go for a run, do some yoga or go to the gym. It makes me feel alive and ready for the day, and I am usually more productive and focused …
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, …
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 …
Most of us love a bit of technology that will make our lives easier or save us money. I don’t know how I got by before I had my iPhone – and I’m a bit of a Luddite. These days there …
As I said in my last post, my brother and I have been debating climate change through the unexpected medium of Facebook. First he asked about science; next he commented that, “A million people giving up meat to appease Mother Gaia …
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