Many of us in the U.S. are now catching our breath after the remarkable mid-term elections we just held. It was a stunning repudiation of the Bush Administration. The resignation of Donald Rumsfeld is icing on the cake. The Democrats will now run Congress. Some commentators predict two years of gridlock leading up to the 2008 presidential election. Others think the two parties will have to work together to at least some extent in order to avoid thoroughly disgusting the electorate.
What does this mean for the developing world? It is mostly too early to say. Gridlock would not necessarily be bad as it could prevent the current administration from making things worse at least in Iraq. If the two parties can agree on an Iraq exit strategy this could ultimately free up funds that might be used to support, for example, international health care initiatives that both parties can get behind. Stay tuned.
I read today about a soon-to-be-released UN report that advocates streamlining UN anti-poverty programs so as to avoid duplicative efforts and excessive bureaucratic requirements imposed on the countries such programs are intended to help. The various agencies need to cooperate better, be more transparent and more efficient. The UN also needs to reduce the level of competition among the various agencies and refocus on the real work-poverty reduction. Like most large bureaucracies, the UN agencies seem to be overly concerned with self-perpetuation at the expense of their missions. The same has happened with the various US federal government departments and their state-level counterparts. I daresay the same is true in most, if not all, countries of the world. It will be interesting to see the reaction to this report when it is released.
A while back I wrote a bit on the subject of excess consumption. The specific target that day was bar drinks costing hundreds of dollars. Of course, there is shortage of examples of such excess. Today;s winner of the Consumer Excess of the Day award is: $14,000 for one night in the Presidential Suite at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in New York. Save those pennies!
What does this mean for the developing world? It is mostly too early to say. Gridlock would not necessarily be bad as it could prevent the current administration from making things worse at least in Iraq. If the two parties can agree on an Iraq exit strategy this could ultimately free up funds that might be used to support, for example, international health care initiatives that both parties can get behind. Stay tuned.
I read today about a soon-to-be-released UN report that advocates streamlining UN anti-poverty programs so as to avoid duplicative efforts and excessive bureaucratic requirements imposed on the countries such programs are intended to help. The various agencies need to cooperate better, be more transparent and more efficient. The UN also needs to reduce the level of competition among the various agencies and refocus on the real work-poverty reduction. Like most large bureaucracies, the UN agencies seem to be overly concerned with self-perpetuation at the expense of their missions. The same has happened with the various US federal government departments and their state-level counterparts. I daresay the same is true in most, if not all, countries of the world. It will be interesting to see the reaction to this report when it is released.
A while back I wrote a bit on the subject of excess consumption. The specific target that day was bar drinks costing hundreds of dollars. Of course, there is shortage of examples of such excess. Today;s winner of the Consumer Excess of the Day award is: $14,000 for one night in the Presidential Suite at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in New York. Save those pennies!
posted by Darryl Vhugen at 3:05 PM
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