Links I Liked

Lots of tips on presenting your precious research findings in just 15 minutes to a bored conference

Why are white people expats when the rest of us are immigrants? This great polemic by Mawuna Remarque Koutonin is the most visited Guardian Development post for ages, they tell me

‘It was scaled, it was sustainable. And it didn’t work.’ Smart 6m Matt Andrews video on scale v adaptation in trying to reform institutions

New OECD paper finds that the expansion of the finance sector has led to lower growth, and higher inequality. Suggests reforms

Governance guru Sue Unsworth died last week. Suvojit Chattopadhyay had a nice summary of her contribution to rethinking aid and institutional reform

China’s engagement in African agriculture is not what it seems. Excellent summary of the findings of a big IDS research project

Against Activism (we need Organizers instead). But ‘social justice warrior’ is even worse. Smart essay [h/t Louise Williams]

Revolution in the Academy: Superb 30 minute BBC documentary on student movement to overhaul how economics is taught in UK universities and beyond. And proof of why we need the BBC. [h/t Max Lawson]

59 years on, this is still the best April Fools prank ever (we Brits didn’t know about spaghetti in those days)

and I quite liked the Economist’s April Fool for wonks – Does eating ice cream make you smarter? A nice correlation v causation in-joke. Recommendations include ‘year-round subsidised ice-cream for children could improve educational attainment. And ice-cream vans should park closer to libraries to help boost reading skills too.’