Charismatic compulsion

Paul Collier, author of the Bottom Billion, recently spoke at TED. He points out that Angola's annual oil revenues were $50bn, dwarfing the entire $34bn aid to the poorest billion people; and argues a set of international standards on good governance in extracting commodities.

Sure, fine, but as the previous post pointed out net private resource flows to the developing world from US citizens and companies exceeded $130bn last year. It is cross-border links which are really growing; and which aid organisations must exploit.

Lange time coming

Here's a thought provoking piece on new solutions to global poverty from Mark Lange, a former speech writer to George Bush (don't let that you put you off) in the Christian Science Monitor (ditto).

Like Paul Collier, he writes that we should focus on the billion people at the bottom of the pile; for him fighting relative inequality is a distraction with an unjustifiable opportunity cost.

There are some great ideas in here. The following practical suggestions really stood out for me:

• Linking the pay of managers in donor agencies to country-based outcomes
• Using vouchers as a form of development currency; the poor could exchange them with NGOs or other organisations for basic services
• Instituting an international minimum wage based on the country's PPP price of a basket of subsistence goods.