Hi folks, back from hols, and raring to go. Here’s some top links from last week
What people around the world see as the top international threat [h/t Conrad Hackett]
‘Compassion & paternalism could mean helping only 1 million people out of poverty instead of 3 million’. Chris Blattman looks at the evidence on impact v cost on cash, livestock and training
Econo-nerd heaven: Summary of 19 natural experiments in economics. Really interesting and clever.
Britain tops world rankings in ‘soft power’. So renegotiating UK’s deal with Europe 
should be a cinch then…..
Great narrative; shame about the total absence of new commitments on anything. So now it’s on to September’s SDGs summit in New York. Alex Evans sums up last week’s Addis Financing for Development conference
Oops. The Sun admits its ‘600,000 benefit tourists’ story was false. [h/t Charles Edward
Frith]
OK, now this is what I call a wonkwar. Serial NGO baiter Maya Forstater publishes draft paper with CGD on tax and development. Ex CGD-er Alex Cobham describes it as a ‘sustained integrity attack’ on NGO tax campaigners and rebuts at length. Take yr seats, folks.
Greece for Grownups: Adair Turner argues that debt relief is inevitable, as is pension reform. Get over it, everybody.
While we’re on Greece, here’s Henry Kissinger on the election of a left-wing government in Chile in 1973, before 
helping overthrow it. Remind you of anyone?