Monthly Archives: October 2017

Productivity growth during WWII in the United States, Alex Field version

Posted on October 11, 2017 by mkevane

My colleague Alex Field presented a working paper on productivity growth legacy of WWII.  Robert Gordon has argued that war production led to huge learning by doing that carried over into manufacturing.  Alex strongly disagrees, amassing lots of data suggesting … Continue reading →

Posted in Development thinking, Teaching macroeconomics, United States | Comments Off on Productivity growth during WWII in the United States, Alex Field version

Measuring attitudes towards gender norms, pilot results from Save the Children

Posted on October 11, 2017 by mkevane

In Sierra Leone and Cote d’Ivoire, data on gender attitudes have been used as a discussion point with community members who have volunteered to be Gender Champions – leading their communities in identifying gender disparities and developing their own strategies … Continue reading →

Posted in Burkina Faso, Development thinking, Gender | Comments Off on Measuring attitudes towards gender norms, pilot results from Save the Children

I agree wholeheartedly with this sentiment expressed by colleague Bill Sundstrom

Posted on October 10, 2017 by mkevane

Granddad had a gun He died when I was still a kid, but his memory is vivid to me. He fished, and he hunted. He had German shorthaired pointers – sleek, nervous, beautiful dogs that might, or might not, help … Continue reading →

Posted in United States | Comments Off on I agree wholeheartedly with this sentiment expressed by colleague Bill Sundstrom

Kazuo Ishiguro -Nobel Prize in Literature

Posted on October 5, 2017 by mkevane

“Never Let Me Go” is an amazing novel.  Poignant and urgent.  From The New York Times: Mr. Ishiguro, 62, is best known for his novels “The Remains of the Day,” about a butler serving an English lord in the years … Continue reading →

Posted in Book and film reviews | Comments Off on Kazuo Ishiguro -Nobel Prize in Literature

Puerto Rico water authority says water established for 45% of customers, but fluctuating

Posted on October 2, 2017 by mkevane

The director says everyone is filling up their tanks etc, so demand is overwhelming the system. En cuanto al restablecimiento del servicio, Díaz sostuvo que se sitúa en un 45% de los abonados.“Esto está fluctuando. A veces hay unos generadores … Continue reading →

Posted in United States | Comments Off on Puerto Rico water authority says water established for 45% of customers, but fluctuating

The perfect graph for every undergraduate statistics class, from Financial Times

Posted on October 2, 2017 by mkevane

I object to usage of “trend” to indicate “relationship” (for me “trend” implies over time) but that is just a quibble.  Perfect illustration of importance of visualizing data. PS. Doug Campbell reminded me of importance of a title for the … Continue reading →

Posted in Development thinking, R statistics | Comments Off on The perfect graph for every undergraduate statistics class, from Financial Times

Interesting rhetoric from Rising Academies (part of the private school movement in developing countries), on the WDR2018 report

Posted on October 2, 2017 by mkevane

From Paul Skidmore of Rising Academies: The report strikes a surprisingly cautious note on the potential contribution of private schools. Surprising in part because I had been reliably informed that the World Bank was secretly a vast conspiracy to push … Continue reading →

Posted in Development thinking, Education effects | Comments Off on Interesting rhetoric from Rising Academies (part of the private school movement in developing countries), on the WDR2018 report