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...

WHO Data Portal Shines Light on Global Health Coverage

James Richards December 16, 2016
The World Health Organization, which offers country data on for comparing health and costs, offers a data portal that tracks universal health coverage. Universal coverage and reasonable costs contribute to global competitiveness and economic growth. Countries can learn from one another about best practices and reducing costs. “The portal shows where countries need to improve access to services...

The Complexity of Inequality

Michael Heise December 13, 2016
Governments delayed in accepting or tackling inequality as a major challenge. The concept “remains poorly defined, its effect is highly variable, and its causes hotly debated,” notes Michael Heise, chief economist of Allianz SE, for Project Syndicate. Inequality is concentrated in the developed world, and wealth is more broadly distributed at the global level: Since 2000, the ranks of the middle...

US Fossil Fuel Projects Around the World

Sonali Prasad, Jason Burke, Michael Slezak and Oliver Milman December 2, 2016
The United States claims to lead on climate change yet fossil fuels make up the bulk of the country’s energy consumption. The country also supports fossil-fuel use around the globe: “Through the US Export-Import Bank, Barack Obama’s administration has spent nearly $34bn supporting 70 fossil fuel projects around the world, work by Columbia Journalism School’s Energy and Environment Reporting...

Globalization’s Last Gasp

Barry Eichengreen November 23, 2016
World trade was slowing and protectionist tendencies were apparent years before the British vote to leave the European Union and Donald Trump’s winning the US presidential election. “It means that the benefits of openness and specialization are being squandered,” suggests Barry Eichengreen, a professor of economics, for Project Syndicate. “So far, slower trade growth has been the result of slower...

EU Agrees Screening Process for Tax Havens, Critics Cry Foul

Francesco Guarascio November 10, 2016
European Union finance ministers are preparing a weak blacklist of tax havens and suggest that zero tax rates may not be a qualifying factor. “The bloc committed in May to agree on a common list of tax offenders by the end of next year, after leaked documents - the so-called Panama Papers - that showed how some multinationals and individuals avoided paying tax,” reports Francesco Guarascio for...

G20 Must Address the Anti-Globalization Undercurrent to Stay Relevant

Peter Drysdale September 2, 2016
Immigration, trade and many other aspects of globalization are interwoven into daily routines, taken for granted, and some opponents contend that communities and entire countries can easily sever the connections. G20 leaders, meeting in Hangzhou, China, must address global stagnation and populism that feed resentment and disrupt cooperation, increasing inequality and the power of despots....