SEED (Saving for Education, Entrepreneurship, and Downpayment), is an initiative designed to “test the efficacy of and inform policy for a national system of savings and asset-building accounts for children and youth.” Recently SEED National Partners published their findings from a 10-year study on Child Development Accounts (CDA), linking them to long-term asset building and economic security.

Theme of the week: Making progress despite security challenges

Week Ending July 18, 2010

This week was moderately productive.

The past 10 years have gotten a bad rap as the "Naughty Aughties" -- and deservedly so, it seems, for a decade that began with 9/11 and the Enron scandal and closed with the global financial crisis and the Haiti earthquake. In between, we witnessed the Asian tsunami and Hurricane Katrina, SARS and swine flu, not to mention vicious fighting in Sudan and Congo, Afghanistan and, oh yes, Iraq. Given that our brains seem hard-wired to remember singular tragedy over incremental success, it's a hard sell to convince anyone that the past 10 years are worthy of praise.

Lesson of the Week: Nigeria is a small, small world. 

This week was moderately productive. On Monday, I attempted to go to the Niger Delta University, but the Chief of Protocol, the driver and the assistant to the C.O.P. all were very nervous, even though I had a security guard (that I arranged, since they haven’t assigned one to me).   So I listened to them and turned back.  I spent the rest of the day doing research on asset theory and reviewing some Bayelsa State material.