In The News

The Issue of Celebrities and Aid Is Deceptively Complex

Madeleine Bunting December 23, 2010
Nonprofits and charities increasingly rely on the goodwill of celebrities to promote worthy causes. In the past, celebrities have focused early attention on causes deemed unpopular including AIDS. Some suggest that use of celebrities provides a shortcut in reaching masses to secure funding, but critics question whether the excessive celebrity attention diminishes serious policy analysis or...

Our Dickensian Economy

Alan S. Blinder December 21, 2010
Britain’s prolific novelist Charles Dickens, 1812 to 1870, spent part of his childhood visiting his father in debtor’s prison, an experience that influenced themes of alienation, ambition and inequality in his work. Economist Alan Blinder, writing for the Wall Street Journal, evokes Dickens, detailing how US government policies promote growing social divides: unemployment concentrated among those...

West’s Billions in Subsidy Shut Out African Cotton Growers

Martin Hickman November 30, 2010
Large subsidies for domestic cotton production in Western countries hurt African farmers trying to sell cotton and escape poverty. The United States and the European Union have given more than $32 billion over the past decade to support their farmers, with the EU subsidies more per pound than the crop’s market price. China, the world’s largest producer, spent $15.4 billion on subsidies since...

Fighting Terrorism in Yemen Requires Patience and Partners

November 10, 2010
Countries with high rates of poverty and lax central governments provide ideal settings for those intent on committing acts of terrorism. The most recent try was printer cartridges, loaded with explosions, in overseas packages addressed to Chicago synagogues, mailed from Sana’a, Yemen's capital. Yemen has severe water shortages, low rates of literacy, high rates of child hunger, with nearly...

Steps Out of the Global Development Crisis

Jens Martens September 20, 2010
As world leaders gather in New York to review the progress of the Millennium Development Goals set a decade ago, the enormity of the task ahead is clear. As the economic crisis spread across the globe, the government quickly adopted stimulus packages to stave off collapse. The fixes were temporary, though, failing to address immense structural challenges of trade imbalances, wage inequality and...

If Only China Were More Like Japan

John Lee September 8, 2010
Rapid economic growth, an over-reliance on exports, can lead to troublesome bubbles. And national leaders are wise to strengthen institutions that provide economic security against such developments. As China overtakes Japan as the world’s second largest economy, John Lee compares the two nations for Businessweek. During Japan’s heady period of growth followed by a decade of stagnation, Lee...

Illegal Immigration to US Slows Sharply

Miriam Jordan September 8, 2010
Because of recession and high jobless rates, illegal immigration to the US has contracted sharply, by more than half, in recent years, suggests the nonpartisan Pew Hispanic Center. “The mortgage crisis and ensuing economic slump have slashed jobs in construction, tourism and other sectors that are the mainstay for low-skilled Latin Americans,” writes Miriam Jordan for the Wall Street Journal. “...