Philanthropy Action

News & Commentary

Archive

Archive

Feb 28, 2008

Emerging Opportunities for Philanthropy in the US

The current economic situation is generating many other possible opportunities for innovative and high-impact philanthropy. Here are a few ideas that are worth exploring.

Feb 25, 2008

China’s Role in African Infrastructure Development

It’s important to understand the reasons for the differences between Western aid/philanthropy and Chinese aid in Africa. While “fashion” in aid plays a role, Western donors have largely moved away from infrastructure projects because of the way in which they have been historically mired in deep corruption; and Western-funded buildings and roads have rarely been maintained once they’ve been built. Because of Chinese insistence on using Chinese firms and labor and the lack of transparency in many of these deals, there is reason to be concerned that China is undermining Western philanthropy’s investment in good governance and human development.

Feb 22, 2008

Bush’s Africa Trip Promises Money to Follow

President Bush’s support for Africa has been one of the highlights of his administration. In a much sited statistic, official aid to Africa has doubled on his watch, and if current commitments are met could lead to it doubling again within two more years.

Feb 18, 2008

Free Trade, Fair Trade and Poverty

It is extremely difficult in today’s globalized, complex economies to separate causes and correlations. While the US corn that Mexico is importing is not directly competing with the white corn crops produced by peasant farmers, the fact remains that the prices received by farmers in Mexico has fallen by roughly 70 percent since Nafta was implemented. At the same time, the cost of tortillas and corn flour purchased in Mexican supermarkets has increased dramatically. There are plenty of possible explanations for this that have nothing to do with Nafta, but common sense dictates that there is probably some relation.

Feb 13, 2008

The Bottom Billion in the News

Recent news events from some of the world’s poorer regions are providing more real-life examples of Paul Collier’s main theories from The Bottom Billion. In his book, and illuminated in our recent interview, Collier argues that there are four under-researched “traps” that lock a handful of the world’s countries, with a total population of close to one billion, in a cycle of despair.

Feb 08, 2008

Medical Research Meets Business-Oriented Philanthropy

A New Yorker article by Jerome Groopman profiles Kathy Guisti, a Harvard Business School graduate and multiple myeloma sufferer. Guisti started the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation which functions less as a medical advocate and more as a venture capitalist, using its capital to invest in initiatives that in-house researchers view as promising.

Feb 05, 2008

Corporations: Responsible as they Have to Be

Absence of clear mandates for behavior creates the risk that a few initiatives launched in the interest of social responsibility will be revealed to have done more harm than good, as is possible with carbon neutralizing campaigns, for example. The result could be a backlash to the status quo of corporate indifference, a circumstance not preferable to the current state of over-exuberance.

Feb 04, 2008

Taking the Measure on the Environment

The New York Times reports that “Australia, Britain, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, as well as parts of Canada — have removed or are revising incentives for farmers, biofuel refiners and distributors,” as experts begin to question whether biofuel production isn’t creating more environmental damage than previously anticipated.

Feb 01, 2008

A Jump-Start Round-Up

After an extended holiday hiatus we are back with a round up of some worthwhile reads from the past month.