Tom Hart

I'm trying to stay off this site because of the role it played in the far-right riots that recently swept the UK, and the lack of concern, or even encouragement, the owner displays towards this. There is a growing community over at bsky.app Come and join us!

STATEMENT: ODI will suspend all activity on X from today, in light of the substantial rise in hate speech, mis- and disinformation on the platform. We encourage our followers to join us on alternative platforms. Read more about our decision ⬇️ odi.org/en/press/odi-s…

Kudos to the @britishmuseum and curator @ZoeCormack. Ethiopia's Maqdala plunder is now labeled as Ethiopia's Maqdala plunder in the display. Plus context. Plus - a big deal - a chance to see the back of the diptych! "The Museum is actively engaged in dialogue," it says. It is.

Be like Daron.

Look at the chart on the right. Most of the action, most of the time, is in making the social spending more redistributive, not taxation.

The IEA's Women in Economics program (IEA-WE) is funding research on interventions to advance women in economics in developing countries. See RFP here iea-world.org/research-paper…

How much is the USD’s exorbitant privilege worth? 👉(spoiler)About 22% higher debt/GDP ration ➡️ new calculations @voxeu 🔗 cepr.org/voxeu/columns/…. @cepr_org @UWecon @NYUEconomics

New insights from @ODI_trade on how #SriLanka 🇱🇰 can shift from debt default to transformative growth. odi.org/en/publication… Crafted by Sri Lankan & international experts. I added a chapter on the following lessons from the debt crisis...🧵

In their first Olympic appearance, South Sudan nearly qualified for quarterfinals. They huddled at center court after loss to Serbia and were showered with loud applause. Crowd favorites all week.

The South Sudan Men’s Basketball story is incredible. The youngest country in the world (established 2011) with a GDP of under $10B. Former NBA player Luol Deng funded the country’s basketball program (travel, hotels, gyms) for years on his own and believes South Sudan can become a basketball powerhouse the same way “Kenya dominates in track and field” or “Jamaica does in sprinting”. During his NBA career (2004-2019), Deng regularly ran basketball camps in the UK (where his family received political asylum after escaping Sudanese Civil War) and Africa. A huge motivation for him to pursue basketball was that “everything said about Sudan / South Sudan was always negative” and he “wanted to succeed” as a way to put his “country on the map.” Deng became president of the South Sudan Basketball Federation in 2019 and what they’ve been able to do in a few short years is amazing. *** Full interview here from 2023: youtu.be/IH-IYYVsa2I?si…

A Critical Macroeconomic Assessment of @IMFNews conditionality on Kenya: 2021-present. It was a privilege to launch our paper with co-authors @IEAKwame and @Mo_Wanja for @IEAKenya and IDEAs Network today in Nairobi. We salute Kenyan Gen-Z. ieakenya.or.ke/?wpdmdl=3433

Remembering Nicolas van de Walle, the Maxwell M. Upson Professor of Government in @CornellCAS. Van de Walle, who played a formative role in the field of comparative politics, died on July 15. He was 67. @cornellgov news.cornell.edu/stories/2024/0…

Great battle as we come up short in the final preparations for Paris.

Public financial management in health matters and global health agencies are coming together to take action! More at our latest blog at the Montreux Collaborative. @WHO @WBG_Health @UNICEF @GlobalFund @gavi pfm4health.net/blog

Toumani Diabate was a legend, an incredible musician. What a great loss. May he rest in peace.

And it's even better with the link! theguardian.com/business/artic…

Ugh 🤦‍♀️ By all means, increase the aid budget to create opportunities at home. But don't do it on the assumption that it will stop migration. Evidence suggests it won't. Linking the two runs the risk that otherwise good projects will be cut and the rationale for aid undermined.

Very interesting speech by IMF Africa Director Abebe Selassie at the Africa Economic Symposium in Rabat. One of his points is that domestic debt markets will be an inherently limited source of development finance for many African economies because ... imf.org/en/News/Articl…

Absolutely delighted to announce the launch of my new blog series on "African urbanisation: what can (and can’t) be learned from China about growing cities" with @TC_Africa Here the first installment and watch this space for the next one soon! theconversation.com/african-urbani…

The tampon tax is an ineffective distraction from policies to close persistent gender gaps. Instead we need policies that address underlying causes of inequality. Read more from @hazelgranger_1 & @LauraAbramovsky in part 5 of our gender finance series. buff.ly/3Y0gGMG