Development Drums

Tim Harford is a journalist at the Financial Times and the author of The Undercover Economist and, most recently, of Adapt: Why Success Always Begins with Failure.

In this interview, Tim talks about the implications for development of his idea that successful complex systems emerge from a process of trial and error.

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair talks about his Africa Governance Initiative, about globalization, development, democracy and governance in Africa, leadership, the role of the Department for International Development, and his own future.

Professor Deborah Bräutigam discusses her book, The Dragon’s Gift: The Real Story of China in Africa about China Africa relations.  Professor Bräutigam blogs at chinaafricarealstory.com. Running time 1 hour 1 minute; size: 29.6 Mb. Download transcript (pdf)

Malini Mehra from the Center for Social Markets and Alex Evans from the Center on International Cooperation at NYU discuss ten big global challenges for development.

Andy Sumner (IDS) and Claire Melamed (ODI) discuss the implications of Andy's paper, Global Poverty and The New Bottom Billion.

Peter Gill talks on Development Drums about his new book, Famine and Foreigners: Ethiopia Since Live Aid.

Roger Thurow and Scott Kilman talk about their book Enough: Why The World’s Poorest Starve In An Age of Plenty. Download transcript (pdf)

In this edition of Development drums, Owen talks to Rachel Glennerster, Director of the Poverty Action Lab, about rigorous evaluation of development programmes. Rachel explains how rigorous evaluation techniques can give important insights into the effectiveness of development programmes.  She explains the role (and limitations) of randomised controlled trials, and she addresses some of the […]

Daniel Kaufmann and Mushtaq Khan debate the role and importance of tackling corruption as part of a development strategy. Download transcript (pdf)

Guest presenter Alison Evans, Director of ODI, interviews Owen Barder about his new paper, Beyond Planning: Markets and Networks for Better Aid, and Roger Riddell, author of two key books on aid and a non-executive director of Oxford Policy Management. This podcast is in collaboration with the Overseas Development Institute. Download transcript (pdf)