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Jun 23, 2008

Putting a Price on Water

The huge underwater aquifiers that have sustained agriculture in water scare regions in India and the Southwest United States have run dangerously low due to decades of uncontrolled pumping and wasteful irrigation. Without intervention, this scarcity will become only more acute, as farmers and other landowners preemptively pump even more in an effort to get as much as they can for themselves before it is gone. Making water a trade-able commodity that costs something based on availability and price is one solution to the problem.

Jun 17, 2008

Doing the Right Thing is Not Always Easy

Message fatigue can come about for any number of reasons. For one, constant bombardment with information about how bad things are can cause people to feel that their individual actions are meaningless. Equally concerning, however, is that the information donors need to make good decisions often becomes contradictory as an issue gets more attention.

Jun 12, 2008

Conflicting Data on American Education “Crises”

While there is vociferous conflict over the source of and remedies for the “crisis” in public education, it seems that everyone agrees that there is a big problem. Rather than spending millions of dollars fighting over education ideology we would all be better served by taking a humble approach that focuses on experimenting and testing various approaches to improving learning and performance by all students.

Jun 04, 2008

Lagging Donations to Burma and China: A Warning to Non-Profits?

Roughly three weeks after the cyclone and earthquake, the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University estimated that donations from Americans totaled less than $60 million, compared with more than $200 million given in the week after the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004. Drawing valid conclusions about the cause behind these wildly disparate totals is difficult, but two main forces seem to be at play: where the disasters occurred and the American economic slowdown. 

May 30, 2008

New and Old School Philanthropy on Display

While “new” philanthropy is confronting the challenge of public and tax policy, some “old” philanthropy approaches are showing their value. 

May 29, 2008

The AIDS Crisis and The Invisible Cure

Philanthropy Action interviewed AIDS journalist and activist Helen Epstein on her views of current treatment and prevention programs in Africa and how Western money can do better work for the African AIDS crisis.

May 26, 2008

When Do We Start Calling It Genocide?

When will we start calling the willful and purposeful actions of the Burmese government to kill hundreds of thousands of Burmese through starvation, exposure and disease genocide?

May 22, 2008

Silver Linings and Dark Clouds Surround the Food Crisis

It seems that everyone except for the US Congress has woken up to the food crisis. The topic has made the cover of many magazines, and is featured almost daily in major national newspapers. Most debate has now turned to the causes and solutions, if any, to the situation. While there are some silver linings, the biggest dark cloud of all is centered over Washington, DC this week where the US Congress will overturn a presidential veto and pass the 2008 farm bill. 

May 14, 2008

Assorted Thoughts of Interest from the Council on Foundations

I heard a number of interesting things said at the Council on Foundations Summit that don’t fit into any particular category;here are three of them.

May 13, 2008

The Absence of Debate in Perpetuity

Sessions at the Council on Foundations Summit generally featured a group of panelists who agreed with each other and spoke to an audience who agreed with them.

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