Measurement Frontiers
« Previous EntriesBlowing the Vuvuzela on FIFA: Governance Reforms for Development
Friday, July 9th, 2010Sixty-two games have been played at the 2010 World Cup, which has been marvelously hosted by South Africa. Only two games remain; one tomorrow for third place, and then Sunday’s much awaited World Cup Final between Spain and the Netherlands. In a couple of days, we will have a brand new world soccer champion. [...]
Apology Letter to Maradona, or to the Soccer World?: Don’t cry for me Argentina
Sunday, July 4th, 2010 The Letter, entitled ‘An Apology to Maradona, a Rolicking Genius’, was published just before yesterday’s World Cup game between Argentina and Germany. Excerpted, it reads:
“Dear Diego: It is high time that we critics say sorry, and thank you. We misjudged your appointment as coach. We believed that the 78-year-old president of Argentina’s soccer federation, had lost reason [...]
Will June 27 become ‘Instant Replay in Soccer’ Day?
Sunday, June 27th, 2010This day, June 27th, is important for both Britain and Argentina. Over 200 years ago, on this day in 1806, the British captured Buenos Aires. Today, June 27th, 2010, fortunes were reversed. Two crucial soccer games took place in the knockout stage of the World Cup. In the first, Germany sent England home 4-1, [...]
Scrap FIFA World Soccer Ranking: Geography and Governance predict World Cup results
Friday, June 25th, 2010 In its own World Soccer Federation portal, FIFA.com, boasts: ’since 1993, the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking has become a regular part of international sports and an important indicator to find where teams stand in world’s football’s pecking order…’
Well, not quite, as it turns out, if judging by the results from an analysis of the Group [...]
Back to the Future in the soccer World Cup: Chile wins 1-0 or 3-1?
Wednesday, June 16th, 2010 This day, June 16th, is the day when Chile won a very important soccer game. So important, that Chile earned 3rd place in the World Cup! How can that be, some may ask, when the current World Cup in South Africa is only in its very first stage?
I am thinking about the very same [...]
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) will not be met unless governance improves
Friday, May 14th, 2010In 2000, the international community agreed on eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Among others, countries pledged to halve extreme poverty, achieve universal education, halt the spread of HIV/AIDS and reduce child and maternal mortality rates by 2015. Ahead of the UN’s upcoming September 2010 Summit on the MDGs, countries and aid donors have begun [...]
Does Grease Money Speed Up the Wheels of Commerce?
Sunday, May 2nd, 2010Does bribery reduce bureaucratic red tape to an enterprise? That is a question that Shang-Jin Wei and I investigated in a research paper over a decade ago. The Economist writes about it in their current issue in an article called (following Moises Naim’s coining) ‘The Corruption Eruption’ , here, also citing the work of [...]
Corruption and Fiscal Deficits in Rich Countries
Tuesday, April 20th, 2010 Some of my research tends to challenge orthodoxy, such as taking issue with the claim that the developing ‘world’ is the corrupt one (contrasting wealthy nations); that corruption is largely about blatant bribery, and that corruption and macro-economic stability should be viewed separately from each other by different types of ‘experts’.
Right now I am committing the heresy of focusing on the [...]
Wall Street Reform and Beyond
Friday, April 16th, 2010 For years I have been arguing that regulatory and state capture is a major challenge in many countries, including in the US. I wrote papers, presented analysis and evidence, even argued the case to top executives at the World Economic Forum long ago.
All with limited success, other than getting some articles published in journals [...]
Breaking the Cycle of Crime and Corruption (while questioning existence of the cycle)
Wednesday, April 14th, 2010 The World Policy Journal asked for the views of a few of us on “How Can Nations Break the Cycle of Crime and Corruption?” I answered, in a just-published short piece, though I disagreed with the main premise behind such question: Crime and Corruption need not be inextricably linked, or party to a vicious cycle.
In [...]
California Learning Lessons from Chile’s Earthquake
Saturday, April 3rd, 2010Dozens of researchers have flocked to Chile to study the design and construction lessons from Chile’s 8.8 mega-earthquake in February, for potential application in California (similarly earthquake-prone and regulation-codes). Buildings of similar vintage located next to each other fared totally differently. It is like a ‘living laboratory’ setting — a haven for researchers…
What Happens in Cancun Shouldn’t Stay in Cancun: Toward Transparency at the Inter-American Development Bank
Friday, March 19th, 2010This weekend the Inter-American Development Bank (IaDB*) will hold its annual meetings in the popular Mexican resort city of Cancun. Much of the focus will be on the capital increase for the Bank, which made an original request for an increase that topped US$ 180 billion. Subsequent estimates of what the main shareholders may [...]
Pi, Irrational Numbers and Einstein: Brilliantly Mindful of Error
Sunday, March 14th, 2010 Math rules today. It is Einstein’s birthday, and coincidentally it is also Pi Day, because today is March 14th, or 3.14, which is the first approximation of the value of Pi, the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter.
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This special day is being celebrated around the world by many scholars, and [...]
Desastres Naturales y Deberes Nacionales: El Terremoto de Chile en una Perspectiva Internacional
Tuesday, March 9th, 2010 Un enfoque amplio de gobernabilidad comparativa conlleva a nuestra conclusión de que Chile ha respondido relativamente bien al mega-terremoto, a pesar de errores serios en la etapa inicial. Identificamos logros, errores, y desafíos en la reacción frente al terremoto, los cuales constituyen una oportunidad de reforma para el país.
Traducción del artículo “Natural Disasters, National Diligence: The Chilean Earthquake in Perspective”, por D. Kaufmann y [...]
Natural Disasters, National Diligence: The Chilean Earthquake in Perspective
Saturday, March 6th, 2010 The Chilean earthquake that hit during the early morning hours of February 27 has brought searing images of devastation; and international news coverage has shown scenes of looting and arson incidents occurring in its immediate aftermath. In Chile, criticism of the government’s response is widespread.
Many are wondering whether numerous deaths and severe destruction could [...]