Ranil Dissanayake is a hybrid creature: part economist and part historian. He specialises in aid effectiveness, having advised the Government of Malawi in this field for almost four years before taking a similar post in Zanzibar. He has also advised Governments and undertaken research in the murky realms of aid information management. His current post is funded by the UNDP, but the views expressed in this blog are solely his, and should not be taken to represent the United Nations in any way.