- The MacArthur Foundation has announced a new plan to put US$100 million behind a single big idea to solve a social problem. Applicants must register by 2 September.
- The 2016 Multi-Dimensional Poverty Index — a wonky measure of poverty — was published yesterday. It has three dimensions and 10 indicators aiming to create a more holistic measurement of poverty. Duncan Green has a summary here.
- Prakash Loungani, a Division Chief in the IMF’s Research Department has written a glowing profile of one of my personal favourite development economists, Dani Rodrik, who at many points in his career has been at loggerheads with none other than the IMF. A former UN employee’s scathing critique of the organisation has gone viral on The Guardian’s website.
- Over at Devpolicy are two pieces on the New Zealand aid program. The first looks at public opinion in New Zealand about the country's aid program. This is particularly interesting in the context of a dramatically scaled up aid budget, which is the subject of the second piece.
- Also on Devpolicy, Garth Luke takes a more forensic look at Australian aid and how it fits within the total budget.
- For a bit of behavioural economics fun, here is the graph of a very simple experiment showing the power of monetary incentives. (h/t David McKenzie).
- Ending on a good note, NPR’s Planet Money recently ran an excellent story about an entrepreneurship scheme in Nigeria that is perhaps the most effective development program in history.