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Brian G. Dowling

USAID: USAID History - 0 views

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    On September 4, 1961, the Congress passed the Foreign Assistance Act, which reorganized the U.S. foreign assistance programs including separating military and non-military aid. The Act mandated the creation of an agency to administer economic assistance programs, and on November 3, 1961, President John F. Kennedy established the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
Brian G. Dowling

MIT World » : Institutions, Geography, and Growth - 0 views

  • ABOUT THE LECTURE:Three billion people on earth live on less than two dollars a day. A relative handful of us fare astronomically better. How do economists account for global “haves” and “have-nots”? Roberto Rigobon attributes a vast income inequality across countries to four connecting factors: luck, geography, quality of institutions, and quality of policies. If a country lies close to the 50th parallel, its citizens’ average income is six times greater than that of an equatorial country. Heat takes a toll on nation-building. Take Caribbean and Latin American countries, which experienced a wave of malaria in the 1500’s. Spanish colonists preferred to extract resources and send them home, rather than risk death by staying. Those nations developed impoverished economies and institutions that continue today. Colonists moved to cooler climes settled down, invested in the new world, and created enduring social structures. Rigobon can’t recommend a single, economic, or political doctrine to help a struggling nation achieve prosperity. “The set of rules depends on a country’s culture, history and religion…. In the end the only sustainable regime is democracy, freedom of speech, and the rule of law, but how we get there isn’t irrelevant.” Rigobon encourages developing nations to embrace social and political conflict as “an opportunity to improve.”
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    I found this after having viewed his most recent talk at MIT. Rigobon can be rather irreverant, but there are many points of connection today with what he was saying back in 2004. One area he might have gotten wrong is picking Russia over China in terms of long term development, that could be argued though he migh have changed his mind since then.
MrGhaz .

A Battle That Revolutionized Computer: Traveler's Tale - 1 views

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    Four salvos later, more than half of the Eurisko ships had been sunk but their commander, Douglas B. Lent, was preparing to accept the enemy's offer of surrender. Despite its huge losses, the lumbering Eurisko fleet had destroyed all but one of the opposition's highly vaunted high-tech ships. The battle had ended.
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    Looks like an interesting post but not seeing any connection to the Millennium Development Goals. If you are just trying to get exposure there are more efficient means. Join BlogCatalog and similar organizations or think about starting your own group. The purpose of starting a group on a particular issue is to stay focused as possible.
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