Here’s your Saturday Morning(ish)* Reading…
1. Aid Work: Very Human Endeavour | Waylaid Dialectic
Terence comments on the ‘Advice for Aspiring Humanitarian Workers’ list that WhyDev put together (see last week).
“At a more meta-level the list illustrates well one of the grim truths of aid work, that it is a human endeavour, and so is replete with the human failings we see throughout our lives. There is no escaping this. No part of the world of aid work that’s free from it.”
“For what it’s worth, if you end up working in development, my advice is to abandon all hope of perfection, or of healing the world, but try your best to contribute in some small way to making our planet a kinder, more sustainable place. Do this, and I think you’ve done your bit.”
2. Strengthening active citizenship after a traumatic civil war: dilemmas and ideas in Bosnia and Herzegovina | From Poverty to Power – Duncan Green
Interesting post applying some of the ideas that Duncan often writes about (coalition-building, identifying where decisions are actually made that you can influence, positive deviance, windows of opportunity etc.) to the context of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
3. A Piketty Protégé’s Theory on Tax Havens – The True Cost of Hidden Money | New York Times
“Mr. Zucman estimates — conservatively, in his view — that $7.6 trillion — 8 percent of the world’s personal financial wealth — is stashed in tax havens. If all of this illegally hidden money were properly recorded and taxed, global tax revenues would grow by more than $200 billion a year, he believes.”
“Only multinational corporations and people with at least $50 million in financial assets usually have the resources to engage in offshore tax evasion. Since the less wealthy continue paying taxes, the practice deepens wealth inequality.”
* Late due to recovery from last night’s ‘Guac-off’… Yes, a guacamole-making contest is the new expat craze!
“8 percent of the world’s personal financial wealth — is stashed in tax havens.” Ouch!