In The News

Brookings: Housing Africa

Vera Songwe February 21, 2017
As Africa’s population grows and moves to urban areas, one major challenge facing the continent will be housing. McKinsey estimates that by 2025, over 90 percent of young people in Africa will live in urban areas. Policymakers and the private sector must work to make millions of new housing units available and affordable. Vera Songwe, writing for Brookings, urges governments to work with the...

Mexico Can Thrive Without Trump

Ernesto Zedillo January 29, 2017
Donald Trump has put other nations on notice – the United States is reviewing relationships, expecting balanced trade and compliance on security matters. He promised that Mexico would pay for a border wall though such “demands have defied legal and economic rationality,” explains Ernesto Zedillo, Yale professor and former president of Mexico. Zedillo lists flawed assumptions including NAFTA was...

The Economic Peril of Aggrieved Nationalism

Martin Wolf January 25, 2017
Humanity is tribal, notes Martin Wolf for the Financial Times, and communities form around shared cultural or national values during difficult times. “Today, as in the past, leaders foment aggrieved nationalism to justify despotism and even war,” Wolf writes. “For much of human history, war was seen as the natural relationship between societies. Victory brought plunder, power and prestige, at...

Ignoring Climate Change Just Got More Expensive

Eric Roston December 28, 2016
The costs of climate change – maintaining and insuring infrastructure, industry preparation, property damages and losses – are climbing. William Nordhaus of Yale University has updated his model for studying the effects of climate change on the global economy in an “era of minimal climate policies.” In short, the world is not doing enough to stem or prepare for climate change. “Even after...

Wanted: Equal Opportunity Globalization

Branko Milanovic November 29, 2016
Populist stances are resonating with dissatisfied voters in the wealthiest places including Europe and the United States. The West has posted low growth rates for its middle class over the past 25 years while the average income growth of a median household in Asia during the same period was about four times as high – Asia still has some catching up to do as income levels and gross domestic...

China's Shrinking Workforce Affects Economic Transition, Expert Says

Coco Feng November 23, 2016
The size of China’s labor force, including people between the ages of 16 and 59, has declined for three years since 2012. The total is 906 million workers, down from just over 910 million. The government anticipates the workforce shrinking to 700 million by 2050. The decline is especially sharp for semi-skilled blue-collar workers as more youth pursue college studies and prefer work in the...

Green Sovereign Bonds: Tactical Moves on an Emerging Market

October 20, 2016
France issued the first green sovereign bond in September and China may soon follow, joining the ranks of institutions like the World Bank and large companies. Green bonds fund programs aimed at stemming climate change and promoting alternative energies, energy efficiency, water treatment and other forms of sustainable development. So far, yearly issuances represent about 1 percent of the global...