How Rich Is the Richest Black Person in the World

$10 billion. (He's an Ethiopean.) Hat tip: Chris Blattman

Why Programs Fail

A bit from a new Center for American Progress study on "Design for Success". Part of their answer to the question is:

"proponents [of a program] tend to focus on the politics and perception of a new idea, rather than on less glamorous questions of whether the program is likely to work or whether it is ready to be implemented. They focus on which stakeholder group might back the idea, how it will play with the media and voters, and what effect it could have on future political contests. These considerations naturally lead to compromises, and ideas get amended to increase political support. The changes, however, are rarely about making the idea more effective when implemented, but about luring the support of powerful players.
The problem, then, is that our program-making process focuses primarily on politics, and only secondarily on substantial policy questions. Questions of implementability sometimes seem entirely absent from the process.

(The study in part is inspired by Atul Gawande's "Checklist" book. )

A related quote, on why existing programs continue:

Finally, the political process rewards people who come up with new ideas, not fix old ones. Interest groups court new policies, and reward politicians who champion their ideas. That means Washington decision makers tend to channel their energies into developing new policies rather than fixing existing programs.

 I've skimmed the report which I like. It's more practical than many efforts.  I particularly like the idea in the report that its proposals should be tested on a trial basis, as they recommend for new programs.  However, I'd fault them for being too much a "new idea" (see the paragraph above) and not attending to how existing efforts in OMB and Congress could be modified and improved in light of their recommendations.  It's good my Senator, Mr. Warner, supports the effort, but how much clout is behind it?

Farmers Replaced by a Printer?

That's possible, at least that's how I interpret the implications of a visionary on Freakonomics who wants to eliminate food waste by printing food, yes printing food.

(I think he's full of barnyard extract.)

The Dirty Little Secrets of Life--Milk

There's all sorts of things we live with by ignoring them; just pass by on the other side of the street.  One is milk.

I'm reminded of that by this extension post on milk quality.

Note the emphasis on "clean" in the writeup.  The dirty little secret is that some amount of manure gets in the milk. It's inevitable. It's something we don't like to dwell on, something I didn't dwell on even when I was growing up on a dairy farm drinking raw milk and fully aware of the fact; just something we live with by ignoring.

2012, Egypt, Huntsman, and Elections

I wonder whether there isn't an opening for Jon Huntsman, former Republican governor of Utah and currently ambassador to China, and possibly a candidate for the Republican nomination for president in 2012. I think a tacit assumption among the tea leaf readers has been that Iraq and Afghanistan will be quiet enough between now and 2012 that they won't be major issues in the campaign.  So the focus has been on the potential candidates and domestic issues.  But if Egypt means an unsettled period for our foreign relations, it might be a challenge for Republican candidates.  About all most of them could argue is: I've more experience with foreign affairs than Obama did in 2008.  That might or might not be true, but it's not a strong argument.  Mr. Huntsman seems to be one who has a stronger resume on foreign affairs, which might help.

Sidewalks and Paths in Reston II

This is an add-on to my previous post.  Took a walk down Freetown yesterday.  It's an area of single-family homes on both sides of the road, with a sidewalk on one side. Most of the homeowners had cleared their portion of the sidewalk so I only had to walk in the road a couple places.  It gives another perspective on paths and sidewalks. 

Presumably, in the beginning there were cities and country. Cities, and only cities, had sidewalks.  And sidewalks were on the land of, or bordered the land of, owners of private property. So there was a neat division: owners cleared their walks, the city cleared their streets.  Meanwhile in the country the county plowed the roads.

Then we come to the mid-20th century with property developments and planned towns.  And road were separated from the private property owners.  So you begin to have "orphan sidewalks", where the old rule that the property owner was responsible didn't and couldn't work. And thus you have the pattern of Reston, where Reston Association clears its paths, VDOT clears its streets, and the sidewalks (which may be on Reston property or on VDOT right-of-way, I'm not sure but both are possible) go uncleared.

How To Sell to Americans: Bigger Is Better

So says this Extension piece quoting the Chile Blueberry Committee. Given Starbucks has just enlarged its highend product, I suspect they're right.

Grocers More Dissipated Than Hollywood?

So says Temple Grandin, although her basis of comparison is a bit limited.

Grandin attended the recent Golden Globes awards event in Hollywood and found the movie people well-behaved – a sharp contrast from a grocers’ convention she had been to in the 1970s.
"That was a total drunken orgy,” she said.

  Interesting speech noted by extension.

Why We Need Metrics

From a Federal Computer Week piece on blogging:

"Perhaps it's ironic that many substandard federal blogs slog on forever while one of the best [Navy CIO's] was killed. Drapeau said the weak blogs endure because they do not call attention to themselves.
“Who complains about horrible, obscure movies that they haven't seen?” he asked. “And given that the financial cost of having a bad blog is very low, there's little to stop most bad blogs from persisting.”

Private Company Screws Up; Government Doesn't

Two articles in the NY Times business section:

• Intel screws up a chip, to cost $1 billion.
• bureaucrat at Treasury Department administers the $29 billion TARP (not the $700 billion TARP), cutting costs through good management.

I like to tweak those who dis the government. Seriously, I think the key thing is change. Mr. Miller at Treasury is new blood, who left Goldman to serve the public, which apparently he has done quite well.  While government bureaucracies can become hide-bound, the periodic shakeups which often arise from elections counter that effect.  Meanwhile, theoretically private enterprise is subject to the discipline of the market. A loss of a billion isn't going to be serious for Intel's managers, although it may be for the person who oversaw the chip development. I doubt that competition is that much of a factor here--Intel seems to have had market dominance for many years. Instead, publicity is going to be the disciplinary factor: Intel couldn't really keep the problem hidden.  And that publicity may redound on the stock price.