It’s 9 am and my favorite blogger has already posted seven blog entries today. This one and this one are interesting, although the blog linked by the latter looks like a waste of time. For those interested in economic growth and development in general, this one would be the most interesting.
Now I have two posts [...]
Archive for August, 2006
How to get your blog on Wikipedia
August 31, 2006Downloading classics
August 31, 2006Yesterday Google Books launched a new program where you can download full copies of out-of-copyright books.
Sounds like a good idea for someone who might be sporadically out of internet contact with lots of free time. I just arrived to Baltimore, btw, and will be staying here for a few weeks. This should give me [...]
Valuable seats at the UN security council
August 30, 2006Steven Levitt at the Freakonomics blog points to an interesting article about how much a seat at the UN security council is worth.
Apparently when a poor country takes over one of the rotating seats at the council their official aid from the US goes up by 60%. And when it leaves the council the [...]
Commitment to development index 2006
August 29, 2006Every year the Center for Global Development publishes an index — The Commitment to Development Index — rating several rich countries on their efforts for development in poor countries. A new index for 2006 just came out.
The index is constructed taking into account not only aid but also the amount of trade, investment, migration, environment, [...]
Free online courses
August 29, 2006A few universities have started putting some of their course materials online for free, f.e. MIT’s OpenCourseWare, JHBSPH OpenCourseWare and CMU’s Open Learning Initiative. They have some really good resources for learning, you only need to add one thing and then you’re good to go: loads of self control.
On writing well
August 28, 2006A few weeks ago, professor Mankiw pointed to two resources for those who want to improve their writing: The Economist Style Guide (which new journalists at The Economist get on their first day) and On Writing Well, by William K. Zinsser.
I haven’t read the book (but it’s on my book list) and have only [...]
Housing prices in NYC
August 27, 2006The picture shows a heat map of housing prices in NYC. It’s from zillow.com which has similar maps for a number of other american cities. The least expensive areas are in blue while the most expensive in red. (tip from Andrew Gelman)
Pointer from Einar
August 27, 2006Einar points me to No god but God. Looks good — so it goes on the list.
The Elusive Quest for Growth
August 27, 2006
Just finished this book by William Easterly who is a professor at NYU but spent 16 years working at the World Bank.
Book on Islam
August 27, 2006Tyler recommends a book by Vali Nasr: The Shia Revival: How Conflicts With Islam Will Shape the Future.
After an interesting conversation yesterday evening with Páll Ragnar and Pawel about Muslims and immigration, and given that I’m going to a predominantly Muslim country, I’ve added it to my reading list.
