James Anderson

“End-run”
“Pushing limits”
“Unusual”
“Redefining”
“Challenging norms”
“Boldly upending”

Sounds heroic, muscular.

Our English language already contains the word illegal. No need to craft misleading/laudatory synonyms for suspending our Constitution. In this dangerous moment, we must speak clearly.

A group of young women and men sitting on the floor engaging in an activity with a cork board and post it notes.

CIVIC: The Civil Society and Social Innovation Alliance is the World Bank's new global facility supporting civil society organizations (CSOs), social innovators, and social economy actors. ⬇️
blogs.worldbank.org/en/governanc...

“Everything is a conspiracy theory if you don’t know how anything works,” says @garrisonhayes.bsky.social in his video on the conspiracy theories swirling in the aftermath of the deadly Texas floods.

The irony? There’s no need for a conspiracy theory when the truth is simple: Texas floods often.

These USAID Awards Were Saving Lives. Reverse the Cuts or Reissue Them. url:https://www.cgdev.org/blog/these-usaid-awards-were-saving-lives-reverse-cuts-or-reissue-them

📎 My blog piece about *corruption in healthcare* is out now on @lseeuroppblog.bsky.social, check it out below ⬇️
In it I discuss my research on issues around measurement (www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...) and social norms (onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....)

Reading 2024: Institutions, Viet Nam, Capote, and others Happy Groundhog Day Saint Patrick’s Day Summer Solstice! Taking advantage of the daylight to finally finish writing up the list for 2024. (I’ve been busy.) I thoroughly enjoyed Speaking Out in Viet Nam—Public Political Criticism in a Communist Party-Ruled Nation by Benedict J. Tria Kerkvliet. The author is known for his Viet Nam studies, and this one did not disappoint. I marvel at the patience and persistence he had to collect the data on forms and types of protests, large and small, and then cut through assumptions and accepted wisdom to show that the world is more interesting and complex.

Reading 2024: Institutions, Viet Nam, Capote, and others

Happy Summer Solstice! Taking advantage of the daylight to finally finish writing up the list for 2024. (I’ve been busy.) I thoroughly enjoyed Speaking Out in Viet …

They had lawyers, trials, most were given pretrial release, allowed to testify in their own defense, got discovery, could call witnesses, could cross-examine witnesses, could present mitigation at sentencing, and had a right to appeal.

So nice when something like this shows up on my feed.

Cover image of a World Bank working paper. It is titled “Which Data Do Economists Use to Study Corruption ? A Cross-Section of Corruption Research”. The authors’ names are listed as James H. Anderson and Akanksha Baidya. It is dated March 2005, and the cover indicates that it is included in the Reproducible Research Repository.

Which data do economists use to study corruption? We examined 339 published articles from 2022 to provide a systematic answer.

documents.worldbank.org/en/publicati...

Cover image of a World Bank working paper. It is titled “Which Data Do Economists Use to Study Corruption ? A Cross-Section of Corruption Research”. The authors’ names are listed as James H. Anderson and Akanksha Baidya. It is dated March 2005, and the cover indicates that it is included in the Reproducible Research Repository.

Which data do economists use to study corruption? We examined 339 published articles from 2022 to provide a systematic answer.

documents.worldbank.org/en/publicati...

I helped build a government AI system. DOGE fired me, rolled the AI out to the whole agency, and implied the AI can do my job and the jobs of the others they've fired.

It can't. But, what DOGE accidentally revealed about themselves in the process is fascinating. 🧵

You have mastered the art of the Alt text.

DOGE Privacy Act Requests U.S. Representative Jamie Raskin is encouraging all U.S. citizens to join him this week in filing formal demands for access to their personal data obtained by the Department of Government Efficiency (...

Office of @raskin.house.gov provided a letter template to officially request your federal personal data from
DOGE in accordance with the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552a(d)(1) and this could be interesting jamieraskin.com/doge-privacy...

Opinion | Here’s the real threat to ‘personal liberties and free markets’ The rapidly spreading authoritarianism coming from this administration threatens all of our freedoms.

I don't know what Jeff Bezos means by "personal liberties and free markets." But I do know this: The biggest threat to personal liberties and free markets in America today is Donald Trump. My @postopinions.bsky.social column on this week's trauma at the Post. wapo.st/3DaSKxX

I wonder what case (upper v lower) they are using: administrator v Administrator.

Your regular reminder that the US air & water pollution laws passed in the 60s & 70s -- and the elaborate federal bureaucracy created to administer them -- constitute one of the most successful gov't interventions in history. WILDLY successful. The envy of the world.

A photograph of three people (two men and one woman) looking down at as if at a document on a table. Image credit: San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico; 11 08 2006. (Shutterstock)

What is "people-centered justice"?
blogs.worldbank.org/en/governanc...

"Where Law Ends Tyranny Begins"

Engraving on the exterior of the United States Department of Justice headquarters.

The case for persisting with foreign aid Until now, the US has been a strikingly benign and successful hegemon

Martin Wolf: "A world with more prosperous, healthier and more stable countries is a better one to live in, not just morally, but practically. The main instruments for achieving these ends remain multilateral institutions." www.ft.com/content/3e47...

A man (Karthik Muralidharan) is speaking at a podium on a stage. A slide is shown on the screen with some quotes about India’s state. “India's challenge of governance & state effectivenes "The way forward for accelerated growth in India is being held back by major governance deficits in all areas connected with the delivery of public goods and services" - Rakesh Mohan, 2018 "The weak performance of the Indian state is one of the ten greatest challenges facing humanity" - Lant Pritchett, 2008 As we assess India @75, there is perhaps no greater barrier to India achieving full potential for its citizens than improving the effectiveness of the Indian state Most of the key actions needed are at the state-level

Starting the second day. State effectiveness in India.

World Bank Public Institutions for Development Conference Join us for the World Bank Conference on Public Institutions for Development on Enabling the Private Sector on Jan 30-31, 2025 in Washington, DC!

Happening #now at the World Bank.

Public Institutions for Development Conference: Enabling the Private Sector
#Institutions4Development

www.worldbank.org/en/events/20...

A simple drawing of a hand and wrist in a suit jacket, with handcuffs connecting the wrist to some money. At the bottom is some writing in Vietnamese saying roughly “corruption is against the law.” The drawing is by Ha Huyen Thuong, a lower-secondary student in Thai Nguyen, Viet Nam.

Interesting to read this one from 12 years ago!

Tet wish for Vietnam: shed the corruption skin in the Year of the Snake!

blogs.worldbank.org/en/eastasiap...

RFK Jr. Wants to Rethink the Measles Vaccine. Here’s What the Science Shows. MMR vaccines are safe and effective, but fewer children are getting them.

RFK Jr. Wants to Rethink the Measles Vaccine. Here’s What the Science Shows.

www.wsj.com/health/healt...

A simple drawing of a hand and wrist in a suit jacket, with handcuffs connecting the wrist to some money. At the bottom is some writing in Vietnamese saying roughly “corruption is against the law.” The drawing is by Ha Huyen Thuong, a lower-secondary student in Thai Nguyen, Viet Nam.

Interesting to read this one from 12 years ago!

Tet wish for Vietnam: shed the corruption skin in the Year of the Snake!

blogs.worldbank.org/en/eastasiap...

Robert Burns on corruption, money, newspapers, and death “An’ may ye rax Corruption’s neck, And gie her for dissection!” and other lines from the poet Robert Burns.

For Robert Burns Day…
jimnosredna.com/2019/01/24/r...

A room resembling a computer lab with many workstations and some older CRT monitors.

How far have countries in Africa progressed in the adoption of digital tools for better governance?
jimnosredna.com/2024/06/24/d...