Jacqueline Novogratz: A third way to think about aid

http://www.ted.com The debate over foreign aid often pits those who mistrust "charity" against those who mistrust reliance on the markets. Jacqueline Novogratz proposes a middle way she calls patient capital, with promising examples of entrepreneurial innovation driving social change.

TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Featured speakers have included Al Gore on climate change, Philippe Starck on design, Jill Bolte Taylor on observing her own stroke, Nicholas Negroponte on One Laptop per Child, Jane Goodall on chimpanzees, Bill Gates on malaria and mosquitoes, Pattie Maes on the "Sixth Sense" wearable tech, and "Lost" producer JJ Abrams on the allure of mystery. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, and TEDTalks cover these topics as well as science, business, development and the arts. Closed captions and translated subtitles in a variety of languages are now available on TED.com, at http://www.ted.com/translate. Watch a highlight reel of the Top 10 TEDTalks at http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/top10

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• aid
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[lorax2013]

Jacqueline Novogratz is certainly a wonderful person who has dedicated most of her life to helping others. I do appreciate that TED has speakers like her, however, when TED claims to have "the world's leading thinkers" where are Noam Chomsky or Lew Rockwell or anyone from a non-establishment freedom oriented viewpoint? When is someone going to speak about debt based currency or the enslaving nature of the modern economic strucuture? You can't effect change by embracing the established order.

[bluebeard2]

If I might paraphrase the language of Craig Newmark (owner of Craiglist), governance is more important than politics. So, while you might debate things like condoms, AIDS and so on, these are not actually critical issues. Ministers have to get their bread and butter governance issues right (say, functioning courts, no corruption especially amongst police, meaningful property rights, consistent taxation, etc). Once there is governance, politicians can debate policy.

[oilotnoM]

@limeslimey GM crops are often made deliberately sterile so as to effect vendor lock-in.

[tukkek]

@BookofHezekiah About your 1st point - there's no way the US can "shut down for repairs", your economy isn't sustentable, you buy most prime material from abroad. Also, what Novogratz says is that aid is not only charity, but also a great oportunity for revenue in the long run ("patient capital"). Maybe if the US was to use money for that, it would help put you house in order...

I'm not judging, but the point of the talk is to expose aid as also a profitable investment.

[jeweetwelcaspar]

yes you did! now how das it fail?

[limeslimey]

I am concerned about genetically engineered

food being given to those who need aid. I

believe there was a crop in Africa or India which was sterile because it was gmo. Not only is it environmentally dangerous, but they got ripped off by such as Monsanto, the IMF, the World Bank, the WTO, etc...

[theaggravator]

I never dint sey - FAIL

[jeweetwelcaspar]

i dont understand. how? you dint sey how?

[djslay34982]

True, we in the US should get its house in order, However the US has a big economy to go along with that debt, what we really should lack at is debt as a percentage of GDP. If you look a that The US is maybe in the middle of pack in terms of debt.

[BookofHezekiah]

This way of thinking has fundamental problems.

- First, a country that is as deep in debt as teh US should not do ANYTHING before we get our own house in order

- Second, the ethnocentricity of believing OUR way, and OUR beliefs should be exported to Africa is offensive

- Third, she quoted the US Constitution and then applied it to our "Global Citizenship." Maybe others would prefer we not screw with their culture and society 'cuz we have deemed the US constitution good for them!

[paganiniGOGO]

That's why I tend to avoid watching the politically oriented videos.

I couldn't even get through the Evgeny Morozov video.

[sunmachine100]

Change is pretty much assured. Nothing lasts forever.  I like the word flux, it's great in my song lyrics.