--- description: Getting data on investment in Africa, tackling corruption in China, how foundations can learn from startup culture and more. title: These Are the Five Best Ideas of the Day image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Ideas](/section/ideas/) ## Ideas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Innovation](/tag/innovation/) ## Innovation Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Five Best Ideas of the Day: August 8 by [The Aspen Institute](/author/the-aspen-institute/) ## The Aspen Institute Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 8, 2014 4:00 PM CUT by [The Aspen Institute](/author/the-aspen-institute/) ## The Aspen Institute Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 8, 2014 4:00 PM CUT **1\.** [**We won’t know that new investment in Africa works unless we build solid systems for reporting real data about success.**](http://qz.com/245688/the-infrastructure-africa-really-needs-is-better-data-reporting/ "undefined") By Nikhil Sonnad in Quartz **2\.** [**China needs sweeping reform to shake its deeply ingrained corruption.**](http://www.theglobalist.com/just-how-deeply-ingrained-is-corruption-in-china/ "undefined") By Kenneth Courtis in the Globalist **3\.** [**Don’t make college students select a major; make them choose a problem they want to solve.**](https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140804104444-17000124-let-s-kill-the-college-major "undefined") By Jeff Selingo in LinkedIn **4\.** [**Foundations can learn from startup culture to better direct funds and amplify their impact.**](http://1776dc.com/news/2014/08/06/how-foundations-can-engage-the-startup-community-to-accelerate-impact "undefined") By Shauntel Poulson in 1776 DC **5\.** [**President Obama can still secure his legacy if he spends his final years in office focused on economic inequality.**](http://time.com/3089178/obama-legacy/ "undefined") By Walter Isaacson in Time  [_The Aspen Institute_](http://www.aspeninstitute.org/ "undefined") _is an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, D.C._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3092890/five-best-ideas-of-the-day-august-8/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3092890/five-best-ideas-of-the-day-august-8/"},"headline":"Five Best Ideas of the Day: August 8","datePublished":"2014-08-08T16:00:44.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:43:06.695Z","description":"Getting data on investment in Africa, tackling corruption in China, how foundations can learn from startup culture and more.","url":"https://time.com/3092890/five-best-ideas-of-the-day-august-8/","keywords":["Innovation","Africa","Obama","poverty","China","corruption","Income Inequality","investment"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"The Aspen Institute","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/the-aspen-institute/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/innovation/","name":"Innovation"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3092890/five-best-ideas-of-the-day-august-8/","name":"Five Best Ideas of the Day: August 8"}}]}] ```