A couple of years ago when completing a condensed MBA course, I noted to one of the course advisors that the section on policy would benefit from having more emphasis on mainstream economic theory, rather than focusing exclusively on behavioral economics. In response, the course advisor suggested: "You should read 'Thinking Fast and Slow' by Daniel Kahneman." I decided to hold my tongue: both because I couldn't think of a nice way to respond to someone brushing away centuries of economic theory so casually and as I was a little embarrassed to admit that I still hadn't read the book,…
Everything is Correlated(?): How Common are Significant Cross-Country Correlations?
An (unscientific) approach for determining the 'typical' frequency of significant cross-country correlations using World Bank data and R. What attracted me to the field of economics when introduced to it in high-school was the apparent abundance of solutions it offered for everyday problems. Does your country have low life expectancy? No problems: research has found that countries that invest more in public health perform better on this measure. Low GDP per-capita? Just improve your governance; as better governed countries tend to be richer. Suffering from internal conflict? Rough-terrain is statistically linked to conflict, perhaps you could invest in earth-moving equipment?…
Economic Policy is a Wicked Problem: It Needs Generalists
I remember being told by a mentor that the problem with my skill set was that I was a 'generalist'. Being early in my career, I didn't think too much about the feedback; as I really hadn't worked long enough to build a specialty even if I knew what I wanted that to be. But, I did find it confusing. After all, didn't the field of economics actively poke its nose into nearly every area of human existence - whether it be the links between abortion and crime or how to start a city? And weren't the intellectual giants of…
7 Reasons for policy professionals to get into R programming in 2019
In response to how popular this post was, I've run several crash courses on using R for policy analysis. However, the demand to participate in these sessions has exceeded what's practical, which is why I'll be launching the first fully online version of the course in 2023. To learn more and sign up go to PolicyAnalysisLab.com Note: A version of this article was also published via LinkedIn here and on Medium here. With the rise of ‘Big Data’, ‘Machine Learning’ and the ‘Data Scientist’ has come an explosion in the popularity of using open-source programming tools for data analysis. This…
Op-ed: Public Financial Management Reforms and Fiscal Decentralization in Myanmar
My latest op-ed was published in Monday's edition of the Myanmar Times. The article provides a brief summary of Myanmar's democratic and economic reforms as they relate to the country's management of their public finances. A summary of the article and a link to the full piece is provided below. Catalysing transition through public financial management reform By Giles Dickenson-Jones and Matthew Arnold Public financial management reforms are central to Myanmar’s entire transition. Improvements to social services like garbage collection, investment in new roads and bridges, and raising standards of health and education are all premised on the government being…
New Research Report: Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations in Myanmar
Another blog post and another research report focusing on Myanmar's taxation system: Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations in Myanmar: Current Processes and Future Priorities in Public Financial Management Reform This was my final research report developed at Myanmar's Centre for Economic and Social Development. The paper 'Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations in Myanmar' takes a look at how Myanmar's State, Region and Union governments relate to each other as part of budget and planning processes. Although it is targeted at a more general audience, it has been developed in the interest of providing greater clarity around the informal and formal processes that inform public…
New Publication: A primer on subnational finances and fiscal decentralisation in Myanmar
For the few of you who might be interested in knowing more about how Myanmar's taxation system works outside of the union government, I've recently published a briefing note with a colleague on the topic. The note is available online here.
New Article Published – State and Region Public Finances in Myanmar
Hey all, So no doubt you would have all noticed I have been rather silent lately on the ye olde interweb. Although there is of course no excuse for this, it's predominantly a result of having been working rather intensely on a piece of research looking at Myanmar's public finance system: This paper focuses on understanding the role of state and region governments in relation to Myanmar's public finances. This has been done to take stock of existing research, better understand the composition of subnational finances, and attempt to address whether, at this point in the fiscal decentralization process, state and…
Problem Solving through ‘Bright Spots’
I was lucky enough to be invited to speak at a leadership conference about applying a ‘Bright Spots’ approach to tackling problems and have received a number of requests for further information around the idea. At the outset, I should make it clear to everyone that I unfortunately did not come up with this idea. Rather, the approach was popularized by Chip and Dan Heath in their book ‘Switch’. Solving Pumpkin-Related Problems In the book, Dan and Chip Heath describe a seemingly counterintuitive way of looking at problems which is centred on replicating success, rather than solving problems. Take my…