In The News

Financial Times: Business Leaders Warn of Lack of Progress on Emissions

Ed Crooks September 5, 2018
The world population has grown by about 80 million people annually since the year 2000, but countries make little progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions to limit global warming. The Global Commission on the Economy and Climate, a group of corporate executives and political leaders, warns the world is missing an opportunity. The commission describes the next decade as a “‘use it or lose it...

Quartz: Crisis in Emerging Market Currencies

Eshe Nelson September 3, 2018
Currency worries are not unusual for emerging economies. As currencies decline in value, investors may withdraw, and exchange with other currencies can become difficult; the countries struggle to make payments especially on debt in more costly US dollars. “What began in Argentina and Turkey has snowballed into broader collapse in confidence that has policy makers in Indonesia, India, South Africa...

Esquire: The Water Crises Are Here

Alec Wilkinson August 29, 2018
Earth has a limited supply of water, and an increasing amount could become unusable due to every imaginable contamination, explains Alec Wilkinson in an article for Esquire. “Water cannot be created or destroyed; it can only be damaged,” he writes. “Having evaporated from lakes and rivers and oceans and returned as snow and rain, the water we consume has been through innumerable uses. Dinosaurs...

South China Morning Post: Pollution Can Damage Brain

Alice Shen August 28, 2018
Air pollution has long been listed as a health hazard, causing respiratory problems and reducing life expectancy. New research also points to harm for the brain and cognition skills, especially among the elderly. The Chinese research study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. “The researchers came to the conclusions by comparing the results of 32,000 Chinese men...

Project Syndicate: Strong Dollar Weakness

Benjamin J. Cohen August 24, 2018
The US dollar gained more than 8 percent value for the year and shows no sign of slowing. US officials credit growing business confidence, but Benjamin Cohen, writing for Project Syndicate, credits rising interest rates for increased dollar demand. The rising dollar makes US exports more expensive, and new tariffs make imports more expensive, adding to inflation and prompting the US Federal...

The Conversation: How Globalization Transformed Mecca Pilgrimage Market

Seán McLoughlin August 22, 2018
Islam requires adherents to travel at last once for the annual Hajj to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. Modern transportation made the journey more feasible, and the number of pilgrims increased from 100,000 in the 1950s to more than 3 million in recent years. Saudi Arabia has imposed restrictions in recent years: Muslim-majority nations are subjected to a Hajj quota of 1,000 pilgrims per million of...

Vanguard: Earth Loses a Statesman – Kofi Annan

Charles Kumolo August 21, 2018
The world is mourning the death of Kofi Annan, secretary-general of the United Nations from January 1997 to December 2006. “Annan was not the first person nor the only African to have headed the global body, but his ability to lead and inspire endeared him to the world,” writes Charles Kumolo for Vanguard in Nigeria. “His 10-year leadership of the UN in the post-cold war era, saw him championing...