Links I Liked

America the Outlier. Belief in Evolution v national GDP per cap. Spot the odd one out. I’ve seen similar graphs on life expectancy v health spending. Any other candidates?

The Napoleonic war, infant industry protection and herpes. Vintage Chris Blattman

Then there’s some bad news

Trade Bullies? EU holds Kenya’s big and job-creating flower industry hostage to force it to open its markets and sign an EPA trade agreement

Q: 5 years on, what is legacy of the Haiti response? A: No idea. Simon Levine on the short termism of humanitarianism.

And Mixed News

You’re Fired! UN Global Compact expels 657 member companies for failing to produce reports on compliance for two consecutive years (well at least they’re doing something about it) [h/t Richard King]

15 African countries have national elections in 2015. But remember that according to Paul Collier, conflict risk peaks just before and after elections brookings.edu/blogs/africa-i…

But quite a bit of good news too

Mainstream US Democrats see Robin Hood Tax as central to “a move towards establishing a 21st century structure for financial markets.” [h/t Gawain Kripke]

New and hypnotic Hans Rosling bubble graph on declining fertility by country (up to 2013)

Statistical evidence that IMF debt relief reduced child mortality in Africa.

Finally, Charlie Hebdo continues to reverberate.

‘As a Muslim, I’m fed up with the hypocrisy’: Great counterblast on double standards from Mehdi Hassan.

Beyond satire. Instant infamy for the Fox News interviewee on the state of Islam in Britain, who in turn spawned a hilarious online riff of ‘Fox News Facts’.