Development Drums

Ranking history

About the show

Latest episodes

• Episode 48: Stefan Dercon – Gambling on Development

  June 3, 2022 · 1 hr 33 min

  Stefan Dercon is Professor of Economic Policy and Director of the Centre for the Study of African Economies at the University of Oxford. He is a former DFID chief economist and a policy advisor to the UK foreign secretary. Stefan Dercon…

• Episode 47: Todd Moss – The Truth is Stranger Than Fiction

  September 17, 2015 · 55 min

  Bestselling author Todd Moss is a former senior State Department official who led America’s response to coups and crises in West Africa. He is also my colleague at the Center for Global Development, where he is a Senior Fellow and Chief…

• Episode 46: Morten Jerven

  June 7, 2015 · 1 hr 8 min

  Morten Jerven explains why we know less than we should about what is happening in African economies, and why this is leading economists to the wrong recommendations. His first book, Poor Numbers: How We are Misled by African Development…

• Episode 45: Mind, Society and Behaviour (Varun Gauri)

  May 3, 2015 · 1 hr 16 min

  Varun Gauri talks about the relevance of behavioural economics to international development.

• Episode 44: The Data Revolution

  September 15, 2014 · 45 min

  Everyone seems to be talking about the data revolution these days. In this episode of Development Drums, I speak with two people who have thought more about what it is, how to make it happen, and what it means for development than just…

• Episode 43: Complexity

  July 24, 2014 · 1 hr 15 min

  In this episode of Development Drums, I speak with Ben Ramalingam and Stefan Dercon about whether complexity and systems thinking offers actionable insights for better development interventions.

• Episode 42: The Idealist (Nina Munk on Jeff Sachs)

  March 10, 2014 · 58 min

  Nina Munk’s latest book, The Idealist, is about Jeffrey Sachs and the Millennium Villages Project. It is also a book about the efforts that people in industrialised countries make to help poor people. It is a book about vision, passion and…

• Episode 41: The Great Escape (Angus Deaton)

  December 21, 2013 · 1 hr 11 min

  Professor Angus Deaton talks about his book, The Great Escape, which brings together his research into health, well-being, and economic development. The podcast includes a discussion in the second half of Professor Deaton's criticisms of…