Human Architecture of Development
This season shifts the focus from the mechanics of research to the Human Architecture of Development. Across this twelve-month series, we move beyond the black box of statistical models to explore the underlying logic governing how people, markets, and governments behave. By bridging the gap between academic theory and lived reality, these posts explain why good policies stall and how scarcity reshapes decision-making. This season equips researchers and policymakers with the intuition to see beyond the spreadsheet, offering a clearer understanding of the hidden structures that drive—or derail— development challenges.
The Human Architecture of Development
Season: 2 | Post: 0 | THE MANIFESTO In April 2025, a sudden loss of vision forced me into major eye surgery and an unusual recovery. For months, I remained face-down for hours each day; my world was reduced to darkness and sound. Reading was impossible. My usual tools—graphs, datasets, and regression tables—were inaccessible. Progress was not something I could observe or measure daily; it was something I had to trust was unfolding beneath the…
The Myths of the Average Person: One Number, Two Economic Lives
Season: 2 | Quarter: 1 | Post: 1 | THE FOUNDATIONS OF DECISION-MAKING Three winters ago in Japan, my wife and I prepared for our first-ever skiing adventure. Excited but frugal, we decided at the last moment to save a few yen by buying universal-size ski gloves. They looked fine in the store—stretchy material, adjustable straps. Hope, as it often does, overrode experience. On the slopes the next day, reality arrived quickly. For my wife,…