Fortnightly links: RCT sceptics, cash + childcare, US-China trade, Global Fund, and more

Angus Deaton exchanges his RCT scepticism for a carefully considered pros and cons approach in this new NBER working paper (ungated here).

Aptly enough, this NBER working paper was released at the same time (ungated here) its findings are fascinating, at least for the Nepalese context where it was conducted: giving new families information on childcare and a short-term cash grant appeared more effective than information on its own in improving child health.

If the US presidential election is leaving you feeling the need for consoling irony, this new working paper by David Autor and co-authors (gated, ungated) should do the trick. Rising trade with China appears to have contributed to political radicalism in the United States (primarily conservative political radicalism). For anyone with an interest in globalisation it’s a fascinating finding on its own. But if you just want the irony: in other words, Donald Trump is opposed to the very phenomenon that helped make him a success.

It was a big fortnight for global development events. The UN General Assembly is ongoing in New York. And the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria’s Fifth Replenishment Conference in Montreal, where $12.9 billion were pledged, was generally heralded as a success (read a Devpolicy blog post about it here). Not everyone was enthused, though — Stephen Lewis, for example, branded the $13 billion fundraising target “ridiculous”.

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Terence Wood

Terence Wood is a Fellow at the Development Policy Centre. His research focuses on political governance in Western Melanesia, and Australian and New Zealand aid.

Camilla Burkot

Camilla Burkot was a Research Officer at the Development Policy Centre, and Editor of the Devpolicy Blog, from 2015 to 2017. She has a background in social anthropology and holds a Master of Public Health from Columbia University, and has field experience in Eastern and Southern Africa, and PNG. She now works for the Burnet Institute.

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