Social Policy Bonds blog: Coming next: a fake kidnap

29 August 2006

Coming next: a fake kidnap

Here in Thailand the buzz is all about the bizarre alleged bomb plot against the Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who appears to be as unpopular in Bangkok as he is popular in rural areas. A car packed with explosives was found near the PM’s home a few days ago, but there are several indications that all is not as it seems – as so often in Thai politics. So the rumours are that it was a stunt, set up by the PM or his allies to win sympathy for Thaksin at a turbulent time. The shame is that it’s quite plausible, and not just in Thailand or the developing countries. Objective criteria count for so little in our political system that winning sympathy is as good a way of getting elected, or re-elected as any other. City dwellers are deeply skeptical, but early indications are that this assassination attempt, real or staged, will be to Mr Thaksin’s benefit.

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Social Policy Bonds in the media

13 June 2018: my short article Make Social Impact Bonds Tradeable, appears on the website of Alliance, a magazine for philanthropy and social investment.

25 May 2018: a short article on Social Policy Bonds and their possible application in India, appears on Market Express (India). It is by Dr Ashok V Desai and titled Incentivizing welfare.

9 October 2015: An article by Greg Bearup on the genesis of the Social Policy Bond idea, and application of a version of it in Australia appears in the Weekend Australian Magazine. (The article can also be downloaded as a pdf from here.)

October 2013: Professor Robert Shiller of Yale University, is named as one of the three winners of the 2013 Nobel Prize in Economics. His Nobel Prize lecture (pdf) delivered on 8 December, mentions Social Policy Bonds. Professor Shiller has for many years encouraged my work on Social Policy Bonds, beginning in late 1996 when he sent me this letter.

3 May 2012: An audio talk by Nobel Prize winner Professor Robert Shiller at the London School of Economics, in which Social Policy Bonds are briefly mentioned, is available here.

18 April 2012: Robert Shiller, Professor of Economics at Yale University, mentions Social Policy Bonds in his new book Finance and the Good Society. He also mentions the concept in a Huffington Post article. It's the eighth of his Ten Ways Finance Can Be a Force for Good in Society, and is also mentioned in a short profile piece about Professor Shiller.