In The News

Through the Venezuelan Looking Glass

Ricardo Hausmann August 4, 2016
Despite history’s many warnings about leaders’ erratic behavior ending up in catastrophe, similar stories are unfolding today. Venezuela, despite having the world’s largest oil reserves, is suffering from severe shortages of basic supplies, a crisis that’s the consequence of increasingly absurd government policies, suggests Ricardo Hausmann, economist, Harvard professor and former minister of...

Misplaced Charity

June 17, 2016
The aim of foreign aid is to alleviate poverty, while improving economies, services and governance and minimizing conflict. “Official development aid, which includes grants, loans, technical advice and debt forgiveness, is worth about $130 billion a year,” explains the Economist. Such aid transformed Taiwan and South Korea, but “can also burden weak bureaucracies, distort markets, prop up...

Muhammad Ali’s Message: Fight for Your Vision and Change the System

Michael Lerner June 13, 2016
Cassius Marcellus Clay, born in the segregated South of the United States, emerged as a boxing legend in the 1960s. Time and time again, he startled fans and the public at large with athletic prowess, charm and expression of personal beliefs with bravado. He joined the Nation of Islam in 1964, later converting to Sunni Islam: “Muhammad Ali had the courage to say no to Farrakhan and leave the anti...

US Officials Warn of Looming Crisis in Venezuela

Tim Johnson May 16, 2016
Venezuela should be prosperous in terms of its location and the largest reserves of crude oil in the world. But low oil prices caught such countries by surprise. Foreign oil companies are reducing activity due to low prices and payment struggles. “Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, already struggling to keep his country’s lights on and its stores stocked with basic food, faces a series of...

How to Meet SDG and Climate Goals: 8 Lessons for Scaling Up Development Programs

Johannes F. Linn May 11, 2016
Most countries of the world have agreed to meet UN Sustainable Development Goals and targets to limit carbon emissions as outlined with the Paris Climate treaty. Writing for Brookings, Johannes F. Linn, a former World Bank vice president, points out that governments must find ways “to meet the top-down objectives with bottom-up approaches.” He offers recommendations for meeting the goals that...

Family Planning Is “Critical Link" in Eradicating Poverty

Zofeen Ebrahim and Liz Ford January 27, 2016
Health experts point out that access to family planning and preventing unwanted pregnancies are essential for sustainable development. Member states of the United Nations last year adopted 17 goals on sustainability, including reducing poverty and inequality, while promoting economic growth and full employment. Family planning is a critical link for each goal, notes Ellen Starbird of USAid, as...

Pacific Trade Deal Needs to Harmonize With Sustainable Development Goals

Shuaihua Wallace Cheng October 22, 2015
Developed and poorer developing nations often struggle to agree on global initiatives. But two major deals have been announced: The 193 members of the United Nations approved global action on 17 Sustainable Development Goals to reduce poverty, and 12 nations concluded negotiations on the Transpacific Trade Partnership, the largest regional trade agreement in history. The trade agreement supports...