An interesting blog

I'm not sure how, exactly, I stumbled upon this blog, but I really appreciate what Chris Blattman has to say about Africa, aid, and related topics.

As I wrote on my other blog, at the moment I'm really struggling with the concept of foreign aid, and this blogger has some worthwhile things to say on the subject.

The country of Africa

Sarah Palin took a lot of (probably unjustified) grief for saying that Africa was a country, not a continent, but I have to say that understanding is probably deeply embedded in a lot of us. I heard it today when Barack Obama was announcing the Secretary of the Treasury and said that "Growing up partly in Africa" had given him perspective on global markets--and it does. But I was surprised to find myself instantly wondering "Where in Africa?" knowing now better than before that "Africa" is not a country, and to grow up in Africa doesn't tell me as much as I think it does.

Incidentally--and significantly--the African nation where Geithner spent some of his youth was Zimbabwe, a country with a sad history of economic disaster.