Global Prosperity Wonkcast
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On Journalism and Global Development--Nicholas Kristof
My guest on the Wonkcast this week is New York Times columnist and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Nicholas Kristof. Nick’s incisive reporting on the lives of poor and vulnerable people—especially girls and women (see, for example, Half the Sky)—has led millions of his readers to empathize with people facing difficulties they could otherwise hardly imagine. To listen to the Wonckast or read a full show summary, visit www.cgdev.org/wonkcast.
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How to Avoid Another Bangladesh Factory Disaster–...
The recent collapse of a factory building in Bangladesh that killed hundreds of people making clothing for export has shined a harsh spotlight on the lack of worker protection in such low-income developing countries. But my guest on this week’s show, CGD senior fellow Kimberly Elliott, says that the disaster is unusual only in its magnitude. To listen to the Wonkcast or read a full show summary, visit www.cgdev.org/Wonkcast
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Alex Cobham on BBC - 2
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Alex Cobham on BBC
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US Immigration Reform and Guest Workers – Michael Clemens
Last week, a bipartisan group of US senators known as the Gang of Eight introduced comprehensive immigration reform bill that includes a provision for increased temporary, low-skill work visas. CGD senior fellow Michael Clemens, a leading expert in migration, labor mobility, and development, has welcomed the proposal as good for development. To listen to the full Wonkcast or read a show summary, visit www.cgdev.org/wonkcast
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Illicit Financial Flows and the Three Ts of the G8...
The day before we recorded this Wonkcast news broke of an agreement between the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain to pilot “multilateral automatic tax information exchange.” My guest, research fellow Alex Cobham, explains why this is so important, why financial secrecy and international tax law seem suddenly to be at the top of the global economic policy agenda – and why this could be especially good news for developing countries. To listen to the Wonkcast or read a full show...
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Interview with WTO Candidate Amina Mohamed
My guest on this Wonkcast is Amina Mohamed, Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and one of the nine candidates to become the next director general (DG) of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Mohamed tells me she is extremely familiar with the DG selection process, as she managed it eight years ago while working within the WTO. Now that Mohamed is herself a candidate, she says that she is well-qualified to lead the WTO and confident to let her track...
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World Bank and IMF Spring Meetings – Nancy Birdsall and...
The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are the twin giants in global development and economic and financial stability, shaping the agenda for other international organizations and for governments across the world. What new issues face these institutions in a rapidly globalizing world? How are they responding? In this week’s Wonkcast, recorded in the run-up to the institutions’ Spring Meetings, we consider these questions. To listen to the Wonkcast or read a full show...
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Interview with WTO Candidate Herminio Blanco
My guest on this week’s Wonkcast is Herminio Blanco, Mexico’s former minister of trade and industry, and one of the nine candidates to become the next director general of the World Trade Organization. Blanco tells me the WTO is facing several challenges, and his experience negotiating numerous trade agreements including NAFTA, combined with more than a decade of experience in the private sector, equip him with the skills needed to push the WTO forward. To listen to the Wonkcast or read a...
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Interview with WTO Candidate Roberto Azevedo
My guest on this week’s Wonkcast is Roberto Azevedo, the permanent representative of Brazil at the World Trade Organization (WTO) and one of nine candidates to be the next Director General (DG) of the WTO. Mr. Azevedo has spent more than 15 years involved with the WTO and tells me his deep experience qualifies him to lead it into the future. To listen to the full Wonkcast or read a show summary, visit www.cgdev.org/wonkcast.
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Protecting Forests with Global Forest Watch 2.0 – David...
My guests on this week’s Wonkcast are David Wheeler, senior fellow emeritus at CGD, and Nigel Sizer, director of the Global Forest Project at the World Resources Institute (WRI). They joined me after a presentation for CGD staff of Global Forest Watch 2.0, a real-time forest monitoring system that draws from David’s work on the Forest Monitoring for Action initiative (FORMA)here at CGD. To read a full show summary or to listen to the Wonkcast, visit www.cgdev.org/wonkcast
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Interview with WTO Candidate Teho Bark
My guest Teho Bark, the Republic of Korea’s trade minister and candidate to be the next director general of the World Trade Organization (WTO), has witnessed the power of trade transform his country into a high-income, dynamic trading entity. To listen to the Wonkcast or read a full show summary, visit www.cgdev.org/wonkcast
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Interview with WTO Candidate Alan Kyerematen
My guest on this Wonkcast is Alan Kyerematen, Ghana's Minister of Trade, Industry and President’s Special Initiatives and one of nine candidates to be the next head of the World Trade Organization (WTO). In our interview, Minister Kyerematen tells me he possesses the skills and vision needed to lead the WTO. To listen to the Wonkcast or read a full show summary, visit www.cgdev.org/Wonkcast.
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Getting to Normal in the Two Sudans – Kate Almquist Knopf
Ten years after the conflict in Darfur began, Sudan and the newly-sovereign South Sudan are still experiencing terrible violence and efforts to ensure lasting peace in the region are falling short. What can the United States do differently to help foster governance that works for both countries? My guest on this week’s Wonkcast is Kate Almquist Knopf -- author of a newly-published CGD report that argues, surprisingly to me, that the United States should normalize diplomatic relations with...
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Interview with WTO Candidate Anabel Gonzalez
My guest Anabel Gonzalez, Costa Rica’s minister of trade and a candidate to be the next head of the World Trade Organization (WTO), is a staunch believer in two powers: that of trade to uplift nations and that of the WTO to help navigate the process. To listen to the Wonkcast and read a full show summary, visit www.cgdev.org/wonkcast
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Interview with WTO candidate Mari Pangestu
The leadership selection process for the next Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) is underway. As I explained in a recent Wonkcast, we at CGD are making a modest contribution by inviting each of the nine candidates to be a guest on the show. My first guest is Mari Pangestu, Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy in Indonesia, and former trade minister. In our interview, Minister Pangestu lays out her vision for the WTO and explains why she believes should be the best...
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A New Leader for the WTO –Kimberly Elliott and Arvind...
Candidates to succeed Pascal Lamy as the Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) presented themselves before the general council last week. All but one of the nine candidates are from developing countries, in sharp contrast to those who led the WTO in the past, all but one of whom were from high-income countries. Is this a good sign for the WTO or not? Does this leadership succession process have implications for trade and development? To listen to the Wonkcast or read a full...
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The Biometrics Revolution -- Alan Gelb and Julia Clark
Imagine that a government employee holding an unfamiliar device and a laptop offers to scan your iris and create for you a unique identification record. Would you agree? For hundreds of millions of people in the developing world, the question is unequivocally “yes!” To read a full show summary and listen to the wonkcast, visit www.cgdev.org/wonkcast
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A New Liquidity Fund for Latin America -- Liliana Rojas...
Last month members of the Latin American Shadow Financial Regulatory Committee (CLAAF) convened at CGD to discuss fiscal and monetary issues affecting the region. The CLAFF, which meets here twice a year, usually offers policy and regulatory recommendations for finance ministers and central bankers in the region. This time the committee proposed something quite different: the five-page statement CLAFF issued after two days of deliberation recommended the creation of a new regional financial...
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How Fair is Fair Trade? – Kimberly Elliott
When you opt to buy fair trade certified coffee at the grocery store instead of uncertified, how much good are you doing? My guest on this week’s Wonkcast, Kimberly Ann Elliott, draws on her recent policy paper, Is My Fair Trade Coffee Really Fair? Trends and Challenges in Fair Trade Certification, to tell me why the answer may be more complicated than you’d think. To listen to the Wonkcast and read a full show summary, visit www.cgdev.org/wonkcast
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Behavioral Economics and Development - Saugatto Datta
Economists, development and otherwise, often assume that people given the right information will make informed decisions in their own best interest. Not! Just like the rest of us, the poor people targeted by development programs sometimes lack self-control and fail to take actions that would benefit them in the long run, even when they understand the potential benefits. My guest on this week’s Wonckast, Saugatto Datta, draws on findings from his recent policy paper, co-authored with CGD...
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From Schooling Goals to Learning Goals – Lant Pritchett
The Millennium Development Goal of universal primary-school completion has been successful. By 2011, 90 percent of countries had already met the goal; only 19 of 212 countries are unlikely to meet it by 2015. That is good news for international campaigns and government efforts to get more kids in school. But meeting enrollment targets does not necessary improve education. In many countries on target to meet the schooling goal, only a small percentage of students actually meet minimal...
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Corruption and Development – William Savedoff
Pogo famously said: “We have met the enemy and he is us.” That thought underpins my conversation with CGD senior fellow Bill Savedoff on corruption and development. Bill joined me last week after hosting a roundtable discussion with two anti-corruption experts who have recently published books on the issue, Frank Vogl and Lawrence Cockcroft. In our conversation, Bill draws on the key ideas in these two books to unpack the various ways of thinking about—and addressing—corruption in...
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Development Impact Bonds – Elizabeth Littlefield and...
The CGD and Social Finance Development Impact Bonds Working Group is designing a new type of investment vehicle to attract private investors who want to do good and do well while delivering development outcomes. My guests this week are two of thegroup’s three co-chairs: Elizabeth Littlefield, President and CEO of the US Overseas Private Investment Corporation; and Toby Eccles, founder and Development Director at Social Finance, a UK-based non-profit that has pioneered a similar investment...
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Development Impact Bonds - Owen Barder on BBC
Is it possible to invest in public services and make a return? In this BBC interview, Senior Fellow Owen Barder discusses the potential of Development Impact Bonds, an approach the draws the private sector into development. With DIBs, private investors would see their money go towards infrastructure, education, and disease vaccination in developing countries. "These are areas where the growth is going to be in the 21st century," Owen says of emerging market economies. "Any investor is going...
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ABCs of the CDI – David Roodman and Owen Barder
It’s that time of year again. In just a few weeks, CGD will release the 2012 results of its annual Commitment to Development Index (CDI) – a product that measures the extent to which wealthy nations are supporting poorer countries’ development efforts in seven policy areas: aid, trade, investment, migration, environment, security, and technology. In this week’s Wonkcast, I chat with David Roodman, CGD senior fellow and chief architect of the CDI, and Owen Barder, senior fellow and director...
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Publish What You Buy: Charles Kenny on the Case for...
Your tax dollars bought that bridge, that road, that school. But unless you live in Colombia or the UK, you probably can’t look at the contracts for these things bought on your behalf. My guest on this week’s Wonkcast is Charles Kenny, senior fellow here at CGD and we are discussing his latest work: “Publish What You Buy: The Case for Routine Publication of Government Contracts.” Charles estimates that government contracts with private firms account for about 15% of the global economy or...
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Todd Moss on BBC America
BBC America podcast
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On Populism and (Electric) Power in India - Arvind...
Electric power has been restored across northern India to the 600 million people who recently found themselves sweltering in the dark. But the massive blackouts have left lingering questions about the country's ability to provide the infrastructure necessary to sustained growth and poverty reduction.CGD Fellow Arvind Subramanian puts the blame on populism-a tendency of politicians to promise free or heavily subsidized electricity and officials to turn a blind eye to power theft-that has left...
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Reducing Deforestation by Paying for Performance –...
Reducing carbon emissions from forest clearing and degradation has become an important part of the international climate agenda. But how can we create incentives to reduce deforestation, and how can we measure success? My guest on this week’s Wonkcast, visiting senior associate Michele de Nevers, tells me that the answers to these questions are more valuable than ever – if we don’t act quickly, our forests will disappear. To listen to the Wonkcast and read a full show summary, visit...
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More Money, More Problems for US Development in Pakistan...
Despite an upsurge in US civilian assistance to Pakistan, more money has led to more problems in achieving long-term development goals in the fractious and fragile state. My guests on this week’s Wonkcast are Milan Vaishnav and Danny Cutherell, co-authors of a recent report written jointly with CGD president Nancy Birdsall. The new report--More Money, More Problems: A 2012 Assessment of the US Approach to Development in Pakistan--assigns letter grades in ten areas and provides...
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International AIDS Conference and the AIDS...
Next week the International AIDS Conference will be held in the United States for the first time in 20 years. CGD senior fellow Mead Over, one of the world’s leading experts on the economics of the epidemic, and policy outreach associate Jenny Ottenhoff join me this week to discuss the state of the epidemic, budget austerity, and the US role in the global response. First I ask Jenny how it happens that the United States—the primary funder in the global fight against HIV/AIDS – has not hosted...
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Family Planning is Back -- John May
This week’s London Summit on Family Planning marks a renewed focus on a long neglected development issue. As my guest, former World Bank demographer and CGD visiting fellow John May writes this week in the Financial Times (gated) and on CGD’s Global Health blog that access to contraception is not only a human right and health issue but also essential to poverty reduction and sustainable economic growth. John knows what he is talking about: he is the author of the recently published landmark...
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Haitian Officials Welcome H-2 Visa Program – Michael...
After the 2010 Haitian earthquake flattened Port-au-Prince, the United States responded with an outpouring of money, food, and medicine for Haiti. But a more effective form of assistance -- the powerful tool of migration and labor mobility -- was at first overlooked in relief and recovery efforts. GD senior fellow Michael Clemens led a two-year research and policy engagement effort that reached a milestone in January when the U.S. government added Haiti to the list of more than 50 countries...
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MF to the Rescue on Climate and Sustainable Development?...
IMF managing director Christine Lagarde startled IFI watchers last week by warning at a CGD-hosted speech that the world faces “a triple crisis—an economic crisis, an environmental crisis and, increasing, a social crisis.” Lagarde’s remarks, which I report on at greater length here, would not have been newsworthy coming from the head of an international environmental NGO but from the head of the IMF—the world’s leading citadel of economic orthodoxy—they surprised and delighted many in the...
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Priority Setting in Health: Building Institutions for...
Given a small budget, would it make sense to vaccinate 10 children against childhood diseases, or one woman to prevent transmission of HIV to her unborn child? In today’s global health arena where resources are limited and demands are growing, policy makers constantly face such budgetary dilemmas with little expert guidance. My guest on this week’s Wonkcast is Amanda Glassman – a research fellow and director of CGD’s global health program. Her recent report, Priority Setting in Health:...
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Ag Aid and Tech Breakthroughs – Kimberly Ann Elliott
Food security has been a frequent topic at G-8 and G-20 meetings ever since the food price crisis that preceded the 2008 financial markets crash. It is likely to be discussed again this month when world leaders meet in Los Cabos, Mexico for the 2012 G-20 Summit. Among the proposals likely to be considered is one with roots in CGD research by senior fellow Kimberly Ann Elliott, my guest on this week’s Wonkcast. Kim is a leading expert on agriculture and poverty, and especially on agriculture...
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Rethinking Monetary, Regulatory, and Financial Policies...
On May 22nd, members of the Latin American Shadow Financial Regulatory Committee (CLAAF), convened at CGD to discuss some of the most pressing fiscal and monetary issues affecting Latin American economies. The result of the committee’s two-and-a-half-day-long discussion was a four page statement and several clear recommendations for rethinking financial policies in the midst of a global crisis. To listen to the Wonkcast or read a full show summary, visit www.cgdev.org/wonkcast
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Haiti: Where Has All the Money Gone? – Vijaya...
Since the 2010 earthquake, $6 billion has been dispersed in official aid to help the people of Haiti. Nearly all of it has gone to intermediaries such as international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and private contractors. Yet there has been a surprising lack of reporting on how the money has been spent. CGD senior fellow Vijaya Ramachandran and research assistant Julie Walz try to follow the money in a new CGD policy paper: “Haiti: Where Has All the Money Gone?” They joined me on...
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U.S. Support for Sustainable Energy for All—Nigel Purvis
My guest on this week’s Wonkcast is Nigel Purvis, CEO of Climate Advisors, a visiting senior associate at CGD, and the co-author of a new CGD report “Energizing Rio+20: How the United States Can Promote Sustainable Energy for All at the 2012 Earth Summit.” We spoke last Friday following the launch of the report at a CGD event that concluded with a keynote address by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. “The Secretary-General spoke convincingly and from the heart about his experience growing up...
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Key Challenges for Jim Kim, New World Bank...
After an unprecedented competition, with three official nominees, the World Bank announced on Monday that the board had selected Jim Yong Kim, the Korean-born U.S. nominee, as the next president of the World Bank. My guest on this week’s Wonkcast is CGD president Nancy Birdsall, who discusses why it matters who leads the bank and sets out key challenges for the incoming president. To read a full show summary or to listen to the Wonkcast, visit www.cgdev.org/wonkcast
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The Challenge of Scaling Up Proven Interventions --...
My guest on this week’s Wonkcast is Justin Sandefur, a research fellow at CGD whose recent work has focused on education in Kenya. One study examines the returns of private schooling, while another looks at the effects of contract teachers on student test scores. The results of these studies highlight shortcomings in public education, including failures of accountability and a dense bureaucracy. To read a full show summary or listen to the Wonkcast, visit www.cgdev.org/wonkcast
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CGD in Europe – Owen Barder
Most Wonkcasts focus on CGD’s research and policy work. This one is different. My guest is Owen Barder and our topic is CGD itself, specifically the effort that Owen is leading to greatly increase the Center’s engagement in Europe. Owen, a CGD senior fellow and director for Europe, previously worked for CGD on our Advance Market Commitment initiative, which led to a $1.5 billion pilot commitment to purchase and ensure delivery of new vaccines to prevent pneumococcal disease. He subsequently...
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Aid Priorities amid Declining Resources -- Connie...
The U.S. political environment has changed significantly since 2007 when President Obama promised to double U.S. foreign assistance. As the 2012 election cycle presses on, cutting the budget and reducing the deficit are on the minds of many. What does this mean for U.S. foreign assistance? My guests on this week’s Wonkcast, Connie Veillette, CGD’s director of the Rethinking U.S. Foreign Assistance Program, and John Norris, executive director of the Sustainable Security and Peacebuilding...
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“He’s a bastard, but he’s our bastard”: Criminality...
In the summer of 2008, the Congress-led government of India released five members of Parliament from jail to support the government in fending off a close no-confidence vote. The five politicians – all indicted for or convicted of murder – cleaned up, cast their votes, and returned to jail the next day. The preponderance of suspected criminals among Indian politicians is no secret. In a country where one-of-four members of Parliament is under criminal indictment, anecdotes such as this are...
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Latin American Lessons from the 2008 Financial Crisis –...
Conventional wisdom has it that when the United States catches a cold, Latin America gets pneumonia. But when the United States caught financial pneumonia in 2008, Latin America escaped with little more than a cold. What’s changed? In this week’s Wonkcast, CGD senior fellow Liliana Rojas-Suarez explains why Latin America was mostly successful in coping with the fallout from the 2008 global financial crisis and she introduces a new methodology for predicting how countries will fare in the...
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The Future of the World Bank – Nancy Birdsall
Following Robert Zoellick’s announcement that he will step down from the World Bank presidency at the end of June, the World Bank board has called for member countries to submit nominations for his successor, with a fast-approaching deadline of March 23rd. The board has said it will then narrow the nominations to a short list of three, with the goal of naming a new president before the World Bank/IMF spring meetings in April. My guest on this week’s Wonkcast, CGD President Nancy Birdsall,...
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What Comes After the Millennium Development Goals? –...
The UN is gearing up for discussions about what international development goals should come after the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which expire in 2015. My guest on this week’s Wonkcast is CGD senior fellow Charles Kenny, who recently published a working paper, written jointly with CGD visiting fellow Andy Sumner, that assesses the impact of the MDGs and offers suggestions for what should come next. We start with a brief review of the history of the MDGs, which were adopted in 2001...
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What to Do about U.S. Aid to Pakistan -- Nancy Birdsall...
The debate over U.S. foreign assistance in Pakistan has grown hotter lately, with Stanford political scientist Stephen Krasner arguing in Foreign Affairs that the United States should get tough by threatening to halt aid to Pakistan to force the country into cooperating better on security matters. CGD president Nancy Birdsall responded with an article in Foreign Policy. Drawing on the recommendations of a 2011 CGD study group report, Beyond Bullets and Bombs: Fixing the U.S. Approach to...
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Implementing Oil-to-Cash – Todd Moss
When a poor country finds oil, bad things often get worse. Countries rich in extractable natural resources, especially oil, frequently suffer from crummy governance, high poverty, endemic corruption and conflict. Is it possible to beat this oil curse? My guest on the Wonkcast this week, Todd Moss, CGD vice president for programs and senior fellow, says yes. He argues that a government that transfers some or all of its oil revenue to citizens in a universal, transparent, and regular taxable...
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What’s Driving Deforestation? Surprise Findings—David...
David Wheeler, our lead researcher on climate and development, decided recently to retire from CGD, though he will continue to be active in CGD’s intellectual life as our first Senior Fellow Emeritus. Since joining CGD in 2006, David has published more than 20 working papers and launched two path-breaking global databases, Carbon Monitoring for Action (CARMA), which provides data on the CO2 emissions of more than 50,000 powerplants worldwide, and Forest Monitoring for Action (FORMA, which...
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Global Health and the New Bottom Billion – Amanda...
Global health funders have historically focused their aid on countries with the lowest per capita incomes, on the assumption that that’s where most of world’s poor people live. In recent years, however, many large developing countries achieved rapid growth, lifting them into the ranks of the so-called middle-income countries, or MICs, even though they are still home to hundreds of millions of very poor people. Andy Sumner has called the poor people in the MICs a “new bottom billion”, as...
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What the U.S. Can Do in Pakistan Now – Milan Vaishnav...
U.S. - Pakistan relations, troubled in the best of times, have been unusually rocky of late. A recent cover story in The Atlantic dubbed Pakistan the “Ally from Hell.” CGD’s Study Group on the U.S. Development Strategy in Pakistan argues that the strong U.S. interest in a stable, prosperous Pakistan makes savvy U.S. support for development there more important than ever. In this week’s wonkcast, post-doctoral research fellow Milan Vaishnav and policy analyst Danny Cutherell discuss the...
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Busan’s Lasting Legacy – Owen Barder
I recently interviewed Owen Barder, CGD senior fellow and director for Europe, shortly after his return from the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan, South Korea. Did the December forum, with some 3,000 participants from around the world, matter to development? We begin our interview by discussing the city of Busan itself, and South Korea’s dramatic transformation from aid recipient to donor. Busan is now a bustling city and the 5th largest port in the world. We then...
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David Roodman - Due Diligence: An Impertinent Inquiry...
My guest on this week’s Wonkcast is David Roodman, senior fellow and author of the long-awaited book, Due Diligence: An Impertinent Inquiry into Microfinance. After more than three years of unprecedented investigation into the movement, David was able to cut through the hype and come to understand the capabilities and limitations of microfinance in ending poverty. David explains that while the microfinance movement has built thriving industries that deliver valuable services to millions of...
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Migration and the Trillion Dollar Bills on the Sidewalk:...
In this Wonkcast, originally posted on September 7, 2011, Michael Clemens explains why one of the biggest growth opportunities in the world economy lies not in the mobility of goods or capital, but in the mobility of labor. His message remains relevant as International Migrants Day approaches on December 18th. In his recent blog, Clemens argues we have plenty of reason to celebrate the movement of people – and backs it up with economic evidence and history. If you found a trillion-dollar...
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Who Will Win Out? The Millennium Challenge Corporation’s...
On December 15th the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), an innovative U.S. aid agency, is set to announce which countries will receive its unique development assistance. Casey Dunning, policy analyst at CGD and my guest on this week’s Wonkcast, provides insight and recommendations on how these countries will (and should) be selected. I catch Casey shortly after her return from Honduras, where she saw firsthand the positive impacts of an MCC compact on rural development and highway...
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Military and Development, a Not-So-Unlikely Pair --...
The U.S. military has become increasingly involved in economic development, fulfilling roles normally played by USAID and other development NGOs. My guests this week, senior fellow Vijaya Ramachandran and research assistant Julie Walz, discuss their recent paper written with Gregory Johnson on the Commander’s Emergency Response Program (CERP), which provides funds for development projects in Afghanistan as part of the military’s development operations. While Vij and Julie are not advocating...
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Implications of Ghana’s New Middle Income Status – Todd...
Ghana’s recent recalculation of its GDP led to an overnight $500 per capita jump, putting in motion unexpectedly rapid graduation from the International Development Association (IDA) and ultimately a new relationship with the World Bank. In this week’s Wonkcast, I speak with Todd Moss, vice president for programs and senior fellow at CGD, about his recent trip to the newly categorized lower-middle income country, the implications of IDA graduation, and a sudden influx of oil wealth. Why...
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Measuring the Quality of Aid (QuODA) – Homi Kharas and...
On November 29th, aid donor and recipients will convene in Busan, South Korea at the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness. In this week’s Wonkcast, I speak with Homi Kharas, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, and Rita Perakis, program coordinator at the Center for Global Development, about the new 2011 Brookings-CGD Quality of Official Development Assistance assessment (QuODA) and how it can help to hold donors accountable to their own aid effectiveness pledges. Homi...
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Achieving an AIDS Transition - Mead Over
My guest this week is Mead Over, one of the world’s leading experts on the global response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. We discuss his new book, Achieving an Aids Transition: Preventing Infections to Sustain Treatment. The key idea is simple but powerful. Mead argues that, instead of reaching vainly for the unsustainable goal of offering treatment to everyone in the developing world who needs it, donor policy should aim to sustain current treatment levels while reducing the number of new...
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Ranking the Rich in the 2011 Commitment to Development...
How well did the 22 rich countries that belong to the OECD Development Committee (OECD-DAC) perform in terms of supporting development in 2011? In this week’s Wonkcast, my guest David Roodman, architect of the Commitment to Development Index (CDI), explains some surprising results of the newly released 2011 CDI. While the United States climbed the charts due to a controversial increase in internationally mandated military intervention in Afghanistan, other countries such as Spain and Ireland...
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A Global Consensus on Reforming IMF Leadership...
When Dominique Straus-Kahn resigned suddenly as head of the International Monetary Fund last May, the world was thrown unexpectedly into search for his successor. Within days, CGD launched a survey of the global development community opinion on three issues: the selection process, criteria for rating the candidates, and ratings for 15 candidates identified in international media. My guest on this Wonkcast is David Wheeler, who led the survey and a similar survey on the process for selecting...
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African Development: Making Sense of the Issues and...
My guest this week is Todd Moss, senior fellow and vice president for programs here at the Center for Global Development. Our topic is the newly updated edition of his popular primer: African Development: Making Sense of the Issues and Actors. Todd tells me his publisher, Lynn Reinner, urged him to update the book, first published in 2007, because of the rapid pace of change in Africa, and the strong and growing interest in Africa among U.S. college students, a key audience for the book. For...
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A Moveable Feast of Meetings: Owen Barder
Last week finance ministers and central bankers from around the globe convened in Washington for the annual meetings of the international Monetary Fund and World Bank. While the press and many of the meeting participants focused on the unfolding European financial crisis, below the radar there was plenty of discussion on development issues, including on the legacy of the Seoul Development Consensus and the role of development in the upcoming G-20 Summit in France. In this week’s Wonkcast,...
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Eclipse, Learning to Live with China’s Economic...
“February 2012. It’s a cold blustery morning in Washington. The newly inaugurated president of the United States is on his way to the office of the Chinese managing director of the IMF to sign the agreement under which the IMF will provide 3 trillion dollars in emergency financing to the U.S. and the conditionality to which the U.S. will have to adhere.” Sound like science fiction? To Arvind Subramanian, a joint-fellow at the Peterson Institute and the Center for Global Development, it’s...
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OIl 2 Cash in Iraq: Johnny West
Johnny West is a man of many talents. An expert on oil, civil society, and governance in the Middle East who works as an advisor to the UNDP, he is fluent in Arabic, spent more than two decades in the Middle East as a journalist for Reuters, and has just published a highly readable book recounting his journey through the Arab Spring. On this week’s Wonkcast, we catch him between his travels to discuss a new working paper he’s written for CGD: Iraq’s Last Window: Diffusing the Risks of a...
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Migration and the Trillion Dollar Bills on the Sidewalk:...
If you found a trillion-dollar bill on the sidewalk, would you pick it up? Michael Clemens thinks he has found a bunch of such bills—huge gains to the poor people and the world economy that could be achieved by easing restrictions on cross-border labor mobility. He has written a working paper that sets forth a new research agenda on migration and is urging economists to pay more attention to the benefits of increased labor mobility for the people who move, the people and countries that...
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Holiday in Harare: Alan Gelb
What doesextremehyperinflation look like?Considerapileofcurrency tall enough to encircle our entire galaxy.That’s how many Zimbabwean dollars you wouldhaveneededby the end of the country’sextraordinaryinflationary crisis to equal one pre-crisis Zim dollar, according toCGD senior fellowAlan Gelb.Newly returned from a holiday in Zimbabwe with his wife, who was born in Zimbabwe, Alan shared his observations and reflections on the country’s fate in ablog postthat provided the starting point for...
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Hail the Scholar-Practitioners: Nora Lustig
Here at CGD, we talk a lot about the “what” of policy. We’re in the business of ideas and that sometimes leads us to overlook the crucial question of the “who” in the policy process. Thankfully we have Nora Lustig, a non-resident fellow at the Center for Global Development, Samuel Z. Stone Professor of Latin American economics at Tulane University, and non-resident fellow at the Inter-American Dialogue. Nora has just written a working paper on the role of scholar-practitioners in the...
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Turning the Tide in the War on Tobacco: Bill Savedoff
Most people understand the personal risks associated with smoking, but surprisingly few understand its impact globally. Every year, more people die form tobacco related illnesses than from HIV/Aids, TB and malaria combined. Nevertheless, governments and international aid agencies have yet ot pay serious attention to what some believe to be one of hte most needless disease burdens in human history. Here to breathe some fresh air into the fight to curb smoking is senior fellow Bill Savedoff,...
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Famine in the Horn of Africa: Owen Barder
It’s not often that the United Nations sees fit to officially declare afood crisis a famine. That’s a testament to the severity of the ongoing suffering in Somalia, a disaster of biblical proportions that has already claimed the lives of tens of thousands. But evidence abounds that famines are not only the result of natural occurrences. On the contrary, most are the shocking result of human error or, in the worst case, deliberate neglect. This was the messageOwen Barderdrove home to me in...
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The Debt Cap Showdown and the Developing World: Liliana...
The American media is abuzz with stories of doom and gloom as tensions mount over stalled efforts to raise the U.S. debt ceiling. Europe, meanwhile, has its own debt woes, with mounting fears that a default in Greece could spill over into Ireland, Portugal and Spain. So far, however, there has been relatively little discussion about what these twin crises would mean for the 5 billion people living in developing countries. Sadly, those with the least influence over the issue could pay the...
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Prospects for South Sudan, the World’s Newest Nation:...
On Saturday the world’s newest nation exuberantly celebrated its first independence day. The Republic of South Sudan, an area the size of Texas that is home to eight million people, has finally fulfilled its long-sought goal of freedom and self-determination. Independence however, is just the beginning. My guest this week is Ben Leo, a CGD research fellow and expert on the economic issues concerning the new nation of South Sudan and its major challenges going forward. Read a full show...
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Hedging Against Hunger: Connie Veillette & Ben Leo
Every year, billions of dollars are spent on food assistance to provide lifesaving sustenance to millions of people. That’s a lot of money, and an important cause, so it was encouraging to learn last week that the United States and the G-20 are starting to seriously scrutinize food aid policy. Recent developments in Washington and Paris show a growing consensus that it’s about time to overhaul outdated approaches to feeding the hungry. Joining me this week to discuss these developments is...
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Leapfrogging Technology, the Case for Biometrics: Alan...
The Wonkcast is taking a brief summer vacation. We’ve selected this show from our archives- it was originally posted on January 11, 2011. In developed countries, official identification systems are a fact of life, providing the foundation for a myriad of transactions including elections, pension payments, and the legal system. Without functional ID systems, citizens of many developing countries miss out on the benefits of official identification. On this week’s Wonkcast, I am joined by CGD...
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Avoiding A Credit Bubble in Latin America:...
For now, the future for Latin America looks bright. Confidence is high throughout the region after a strong rebound from the global financial crisis. But large and possibly volatile inflows of capital could lead to a credit bubble if regulators don’t take steps now to slow the large flood of hot money. In this edition of the Wonkcast I interview three members of the Latin American Shadow Financial Regulatory Committee (CLAAF), a group prominent South American economists who meet twice yearly...
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Will Obama Follow UK Meeting with Adequate Money for...
My guest on this show is Amanda Glassman, research fellow and director of CGD’s Global Health Program. I recorded this Wonkcast with her last week, just ahead of the first pledging session for the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations (GAVI). GAVI is a coalition of private foundations and donor country governments who work to increase the availability of vaccines, a highly cost-effective health intervention that is chronically under provided. Among other mechanisms, GAVI buys the...
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U.S. Disaster Assistance and Migration Policy: Michael...
When a catastrophic earthquake struck Haiti last year the U.S. government and public moved quickly to aid the survivors. The response was swift and compassionate. But America did not do something simple and low-cost that could have helped the survivors of this horrible event. It did not crack open the door and admit a small number of them to the United States. On this week’s Wonkcast, I’m joined by senior fellow Michael Clemens to discuss why US immigration policy should be part of the...
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IMF Leadership Struggle and CGD Survey Results: Nancy...
The sudden resignation of Dominique Strauss-Kahn has sparked a global debate over the selection of the next head of the International Monetary Fund. French finance minister Christine Legarde, Europe’s nominee, has launched a round-the-world tour to promote her candidacy. Meanwhile, Agustin Carstins, the governor of the Bank of Mexico and the lone challenger so far to Europe’s renewed claim to lead the IMF, is seeking backing from European debtor nations and others by calling for greater...
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Mohammed Yunus Forced Out –Whither Microcredit? David...
Mohammed Yunus has been forced by a Bangladesh court to step down as the head of the Grameen Bank, leaving the world to wonder what will become of the institution that helped inspire the microfinance revolution. On this week’s Wonkcast, we consider the rise and uncertain future of microcredit, not so long ago the darling of development experts and activists alike, and discuss whether or not the arc of Yunus’s remarkable life serves as an apt metaphor for the microfinance movement. My guest...
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What’s Up with the U.S. Global Health Initiative?...
When President Obama created the Global Health Fund (GHI) in May 2009, health policy gurus welcomed it as a pioneering effort to make US involvement in global health more coherent, strategic and systematic. Two years later, there has been some modest progress but questions abound about how the initiative will take shape and deliver results. Nandini Oomman, senior associate at the Center for Global Development, joins me on the Wonkcast this week to assess the GHI’s progress on its second...
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Why U.S. Aid to Pakistan Still Makes Sense: Nancy...
Why are we providing some $1.5 billion per year in development assistance to a country that couldn’t be bothered to find bin Laden? Now that Osama is dead, what the heck are we still doing in Pakistan? On this special edition of the Global Prosperity Wonkcast I asked these provocative questions of Nancy Birdsall, president of the Center for Global Development.For the past year, Nancy has led a high-level study group evaluating the U.S. development strategy in Pakistan, and has written a...
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Fourth UN Conference on Least Developed Countries:...
This week, 10,000 representatives from around the world will head to Istanbul for the fourth decadal meeting of the UN conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC-IV). Trade is likely to have a prominent place on the agenda. I invited senior fellow Kimberly Elliott, author of Delivering on Doha: Farm Trade and the Poor, for her views on the conference. “Duty free quota free access to rich country markets will definitely be one of the key asks of these LDC countries in Istanbul,” says...
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Impact Evaluations and the 3ie: William Savedoff
Efforts to design better aid programs often are hampered by the failure to evaluate what works—and what doesn’t—in existing programs. Today, the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation and other important efforts are helping fill the evaluation gap. My guest this week is senior fellow Bill Savedoff. He was a member of the Center for Global Development’s 2004 Evaluation Gap Working Group, led by Ruth Levine, that urged and helped create a new institution for impact evaluation: the...
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Not Too Late to Fix U.S. Development Strategy in...
The United States has committed $1.5 billion per year over five years in an effort to support development inPakistan, a fragile, nuclear-armed state of almost 190 million people that is in the frontline of the struggle against Islamic extremism. So, how’s that working out? I have two guests on the show this week, senior policy analyst Molly Kinder and research and communications assistant Wren Elhai. Molly and Wren have been working closely with CGD president Nancy Birdsall to make sense of...
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The Climate Change Vulnerability Index: David Wheeler
Rapid climate change is upon us, and governments, multilateral organizations, and development agencies are preparing to dole out billions of dollars in adaptation assistance. Nevertheless, little research has gone into calculating which countries are most vulnerable to global warming. On this Wonkcast, I'm joined by David Wheeler, senior fellow at the Center for Global Development, who created an index for determining which countries should be prioritized when the money starts to flow. His...
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Combating Drug Resistance: Rachel Nugent
Drug resistance, a neglected but increasingly urgent problem, receives some much-needed attention this week as the focus of this year’s World Health Day, also dubbed Antimicrobial Resistance Day, on Thursday, April 7. I invited Rachel Nugent, lead author of The Race Against Drug Resistance , a CGD working group report, for a progress report on efforts to address this problem since the report was released last June. We begin with some scary stuff—the continued emergence of “superbugs” that...
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Nancy Birdsall on Cash on Delivery (COD) Aid
A little over a year ago, I invited Nancy Birdsall, founding president of the Center for Global Development, to join me on the Wonkcast to talk about her big new idea, Cash on Delivery Aid (COD Aid), an innovative approach to the delivery of foreign assistance. COD Aid has since gained a lot of traction, so I invited Nancy back to update us on recent developments, including a planned pilot program in Ethiopia. [Listen to the Podcast] For those new to the concept, I start by asking Nancy to...
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The Untapped Potential of Global Public Investors:...
Looking for an investor with billions? Want to know where the money is? If you’re a country with a sound financial and political record seeking money for infrastructure, you can find it in the hands of “global public investors” (GPI’s), a growing group of little-known foreign investment vehicles on the prowl for safe investment opportunities. My guest on this show is Vijaya Ramachandran, senior fellow at CGD, who contributed to a new new report from the Brookings Institute on GPI’s, a term...
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One Size Doesn’t Fit All: Lant Pritchett on Mimicry in...
Development is easy, right? All poor countries have to do is mimic the things that work in rich countries and they’ll evolve into fully functional states. If only it were that simple. My guest this week isLant Pritchett, a non-resident fellow at the Center for Global Development and chair of the Harvard Kennedy School’s Master’s program in international development. Hislatest worklooks at how the basic functions of government fail to improve in some developing countries (a dynamic he defines...
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Macroprudential Regulation and Developing Countries
Regulators at the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland, are hard at work designing regulatory standards to avoid future financial meltdowns like the global financial crisis of 2008. Joining them for two months is Liliana Rojas Suarez, a CGD senior fellow and the founding chair of the Latin American Shadow Financial Regulatory Committee. I spoke with Liliana just before she left for Basel about macroprudential regulation—an approach thatfocuses on the systemic risks...
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The New Bottom Billion: Andy Sumner
Paul Collier’s 2007 book, The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries are Failing and What Can Be Done About It, changed the way we think about poverty and development. Collier argued that the majority of the 5-billion people in the "developing world" live in countries with sustained high growth rates and would eventually escape from poverty. The rest—the bottom billion—live in 58 small, poor, often land-locked countries that are growing very slowly or not at all. These countries, stuck in...
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Overcoming Patronage in New Democracies: Simeon Nichter
In 1974, three out of four countries were ruled by authoritarian regimes; today, nearly half of all governments are democratically elected—and even more democracies may be emerging in the Middle East. But with elections come new form of patronage—such as offering benefits in exchange for votes—that can undermine the intent of democracy and effectiveness of programs intended to help the poor. My guest this week, Simeon Nichter, a CGD post-doctoral fellow, is studying a phenomenon that has...
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Egypt’s Next Big Challenge: Overcoming Reliance on Rents
After the ouster of President Mubarak last Friday, I invited Arvind Subramanian, a former IMF resident representative in Cairo and a regular columnist for the Business Standard, the leading business daily in his native India, to share his views on Egypt’s economic prospects.In the interview, Arvind argues that Egypt’s biggest economic challenge is reliance on rents, which he defines as wealth derived from historical and geographical legacies rather than job-generating economic growth. Arvind...
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USAID Modernization Efforts Amid Budget Cut Fever:...
It’s been a busy time for Connie Veillette, director of the Rethinking US Foreign Assistance Initiative here at the Center for Global Development. Last week we hosted a major address by USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah describing the achievements of his first year in office and his ambitious plans for modernizing the agency. No sooner had Shah finished speaking than a group of Republican legislators proposed a budget cutting plan that would zero out USAID’s operating budget. I was eager to...
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The Data is in, More Money = More Happiness: Justin...
You might not think you’d need a Ph.D. to figure out that people with more money are happier than people with less. Yet that relationship is surprisingly controversial and—not so surprisingly—highly relevant for development policy. This week’s Wonkcast features a young academic whose new work on subjective wellbeing, income and economic development is upending the conventional academic wisdom on happiness. Justin Wolfers, a visiting fellow at Brookings and associate professor at the Wharton...
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Leapfrogging Technology, the Case for Biometrics: Alan...
In developed countries, official identification systems are a fact of life, providing the foundation for a myriad of transactions including elections, pension payments, and the legal system. Without functional ID systems, citizens of many developing countries miss out on the benefits of official identification. On this week’s Wonkcast, I am joined by CGD senior fellow Alan Gelb who has been researching the potential for new biometric technology, such as computerized finger printing and iris...
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The Year Ahead in Global Health at CGD: Amanda Glassman
To mark the start of the new year, my guest is Amanda Glassman, CGD’s new director of global health. I asked Amanda, who previously worked at the Inter-American Development Bank, the Brookings Institution, and USAID, where she sees opportunities for progress on global health in 2011 and beyond.Amanda summarizes her priorities for CGD’s global health program with two big questions. First, how can donors deploy their global health aid budgets (more constrained than ever) to have the greatest...
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The 2000s Were the Best Decade Ever? Development...
Many of us may be glad to be rid of the Naughts, a decade perhaps destined to be remembered for global terrorism, U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and a global financial crisis that threatened a second Great Depression but left the rich world instead with a lingering Great Recession. My guest this week argues that the departing decade is unfairly maligned. Charles Kenny recently joined the Center for Global Development as a senior fellow. In a piece published in Foreign Policy magazine, he...
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Portfolios That Make a Difference: John Simon on Impact...
A new approach to investing is seeking to connect investors with businesses that both make a profit and provide goods and services that advance development. Just what is impact investing? How big can it get? I’m joined this week by John Simon, a visiting fellow here at the Center for Global Development. Together with co-author Julia Barmeier, he has written a new report that explores the potential of impact investing and offers recommendations for a variety of stakeholders. Read a full show...
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Who Gets the Debt If Sudan Splits? Ben Leo
A 2011 referendum in Southern Sudan will determine the sub-nation’s independence – and it’s just one month away. Ahead of the South’s possible secession, Sudanese leaders are scrambling to find solutions to a host of questions, a critical one being: What should be done with Sudan’s crushing $35 billion external debt burden? I’m joined on this Wonkcast by Ben Leo, a research fellow here at the Center for Global Development, who has just published a CGD working paper which outlines potential...
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Unpacking India's Microfinance Meltdown: David Roodman
A crisis is unfolding in India's microcredit sector that-- beyond its immediate effects on borrowers and lenders-- will greatly affect the future of financial services for the poor. I'm joined by David Roodman, senior fellow here at the Center for Global Development and author of the forthcoming book Due Diligence: A Guide to Microfinance (which he has shared step by step on his Open Book Blog). David recently travelled to Andhra Pradesh, the epicenter of the crisis. On the Wonkcast, he...
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Good Aid? Bad Aid? QuODA Tracks How Donors Stack Up....
The Wonkcast is taking a Thanksgiving holiday this week. This episode was originally posted on October 4, 2010. We're re-releasing it to highlight the newly published QuODA methodological report, which you'll find here. Donors, academics, and development advocates have long recognized that not all aid is created equal. Often, the impacts of aid are blunted because it’s spent in the wrong places or isn’t coordinated with recipient government programs. How can we know which donors give aid...
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U.S. Development Policy in the Next Congress: Sarah Jane...
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Five CGD Experts on the Seoul G-20 Summit
G-20 leaders gathering in Seoul this week face a full plate of issues, most prominently the effort to stave off beggar-thy-neighbors currency devaluations. This week on the Global Prosperity Wonkcast, we've distilled highlights from a private briefing I organized where five CGD experts shared their views on key issues facing the G-20, and their implications for poor people not represented at the table. Snippets below—listen to the full 30-minute Wonkcast for the rest of the story. Visit our...
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Non-Communicable Diseases a Huge Problem in Developing...
Heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and cancers are usually considered diseases of the rich world, the result of too much food and too little exercise. But these serious diseases are already a huge problem in the developing world, accounting for about half of the burden of disease. Yet new research from the Center for Global Development has found that barely 3% of foreign aid and philanthropic spending for developing world health addresses these often overlooked diseases. My guest...
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U.S. Development Strategy in Pakistan After the Floods:...
As if Pakistan needed more troubles, this summer’s catastrophic flooding stretched the capacity of that country’s civilian government to the breaking point. How can the United States act to shore up a key ally and put a strategically critical country back on the path towards development and stability? My guest this week is Molly Kinder, a senior policy analyst here at the Center for Global Development. Together with CGD president Nancy Birdsall, she spearheads the Center’s initiative that...
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Following the Money: Owen Barder On Why Aid Transparency...
My guest this week is Owen Barder, a visiting fellow here at the Center for the Global Development and the director of the AidInfo project at Development Initiatives, a UK-based NGO. Owen's current work focuses on improving the transparency of the international aid system—making it easier to know where and how aid is being spent. This interview was originally broadcast on March 22, 2010. Read a full show summary on the Wonkcast site: www.cgdev.org/wonkcast.
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Evaluating the Millennium Villages: Michael Clemens and...
In development, it's good to try new, innovative ideas-- but even better to know whether or not they work. My guests this week are Michael Clemens, senior fellow at the Center for Global Development, and Gabriel Demombynes, a senior economist at the World Bank, based in Nairobi, Kenya. They have written a new paper in which they argue that one very high profile development program, the Millennium Villages Project, isn’t being evaluated in a way that would provide clear evidence of its...
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Good Aid? Bad Aid? QuODA Tracks How Donors Stack Up....
Donors, academics, and development advocates have long recognized that not all aid is created equal. Often, the impacts of aid are blunted because it’s spent in the wrong places or isn’t coordinated with recipient government programs. How can we know which donors give aid well, and which donors need to improve? My guests on this week’s Wonkcast are Nancy Birdsall, president of the Center for Global Development, and Homi Kharas, deputy director of the Brookings Institution’s Global Economy...
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Tempered Optimism on New U.S. Development Policy: Connie...
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What’s Not to Like About the Millennium Development...
Leaders from around the world meet in New York City next week to review progress towards the Millennium Development Goals, a list of development targets set in 2000, after a decade of UN conferences and summits, for achievement by 2015. Ahead of the MDG Summit, I spoke with Michael Clemens and Todd Moss, senior fellows at the Center for Global Development and outspoken critics of the design and implementation of the MDGs. On the Global Prosperity Wonkcast, we discuss where Todd and Michael...
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Can Oil Money Be Spent Well? Alan Gelb on Resource...
Many developing countries have found that large deposits of oil or other natural resources are more a curse than a blessing. My guest on this week's Wonkcast is Alan Gelb, a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development. Together with co-author Sina Grassman, Alan has written a paper that explores the options facing developing countries with abundant natural resources and draws on historical evidence to recommend best practices for dodging the 'resource curse.' Read a full show summary...
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HIV/AIDS Donors and Africa’s Health Workforce: Nandini...
My guest this week is Nandini Oomman, director of the Center for Global Development’s HIV/AIDS Monitor. Her team has just released a new report, Zeroing In: AIDS Donors and Africa’s Health Workforce, which looks at how AIDS programs could be better designed to strengthen the capacity of nurses and doctors in developing countries. On the Wonkcast, Nandini and I discuss the report, and also explore the overall lessons learned from the HIV/AIDS Monitor, which is wrapping up its work this year...
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Ben Leo: Who Are The Millennium Development Goal...
Which countries are leading the pack on achieving the Millennium Development Goals? My guest this week is CGD research fellow Ben Leo. In a new working paper, Ben lays out an index for measuring country-level progress towards the MDGs. His paper, the first to offer comparative country-level rankings of progress towards key MDG-related indicators, finds some surprising trailblazers. Who knew that Honduras would come out on top!? Read a full show summary on the Wonkcast site:...
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Ruth Levine on Start with a Girl: A New Agenda for...
The Wonkcast is taking a brief summer vacation. We’ve selected this show from our archives- it was originally posted on November 9, 2009. Since the show first aired, Ruth Levine, formerly a Senior Fellow and Vice President here at CGD, has moved to USAID to serve as Director of Evaluation, Policy Analysis & Learning. What are the benefits of focusing specifically on girls when we invest in development? My guest this week is Ruth Levine, an expert on health and education who for the past two...
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Connecting Citizens: Rakesh Rajani on Public...
The Wonkcast is taking a brief summer vacation. We’ve selected this show from our archives- it was originally posted on March 30, 2010. Has technology boosted the ability of citizens in African countries to influence their governments? This week, I’m joined by Rakesh Rajani, founder and head of Twaweza, an initiative that promotes transparency and accountability in Tanzania and other countries in East Africa. His organization has made good use of both new and old technologies—cellphones, TV,...
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How to Help the World’s Least Developed Countries:...
There are 49 countries in the world that the United Nations classifies as Least Developed Countries (LDCs). How does a country wind up on the list, and how is the international community working to help these countries develop? My guest this week is Debapriya Bhattacharya, currently a Special Advisor to the Secretary General of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), focusing on issues related to Least Developed Countries. Read a full show summary on the Wonkcast site:...
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Bringing Needed Medicines to Market: Tom Bollyky on...
Fueled by charitable giving, more and more medical research is focusing on treating and curing thus-far neglected diseases. Is the regulatory framework ready? My guest this week is Tom Bollyky, a visiting fellow here at the Center for Global Development. Tom is a lawyer by training, and is currently working on the important legal and regulatory issues surrounding clinical trials for medicines to treat neglected diseases. Read a full show summary on the Wonkcast site: www.cgdev.org/wonkcast
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Satish Chand on the Challenges of Small Island States
Especially during the hot summer months, some of us might daydream about packing up and relocating to a small tropical island somewhere in the Pacific. From a development perspective, however, small island states face unique challenges—most obviously from rising sea levels, but also from the economic dynamics created by their small size and isolation. My guest this week is Satish Chand, a visiting fellow here at the Center for Global Development and a native of Fiji. On this week’s Wonkcast,...
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How the G-8 and G-20 Fared on Development: Liliana...
Leaders of the world's largest and richest countries met over the weekend in Ontario, Canada. What did they accomplish? This week on the Wonkcast, I'm joined by two guests: CGD senior fellow Liliana Rojas-Suarez and director of policy outreach Sarah Jane Staats. We examine the statements released by the two groups—looking specifically at what they have to say about several key policy areas for global development. Read a full show summary on the Wonkcast site: www.cgdev.org/wonkcast
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The Gulf Gusher & Africa’s Offshore Oil Boom: Todd Moss...
As the BP well in the Gulf of Mexico continues to spew thousands of barrels of oil each day, media attention has been focused on the toll on nearby economies and ecosystems and on the U.S. political response. On this edition of the Global Prosperity Wonkcast, we look beyond the Gulf of Mexico to explore what implications America’s biggest environmental disaster might hold for the new offshore oil boom getting underway in Africa.My guests are Vijaya Ramachandran and Todd Moss, both senior...
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When Medicines Fail: Rachel Nugent on Combating Drug...
This week on the Wonkcast, I'm joined by Rachel Nugent, Deputy Director for Global Health here at the Center for Global Development. She is the lead author on a new CGD working group report entitled The Race Against Drug Resistance, which prescribes a global effort to halt and reverse the spread of drug resistant microbes. Read a full show summary on the Wonkcast site: http://www.cgdev.org/wonkcast
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Free Money: How to Unlock $7.5 Billion for the World’s...
With high deficits across the developed world, aid budgets are tight and likely to remain so. However, a simple change in how the World Bank organizes its lending could free up an extra $7.5 billion for the world’s poorest countries over the next three years. My guest on this Wonkcast is Ben Leo, a research fellow here at the Center for Global Development and the author of a new working paper that sets forth this straightforward and potentially incredibly impactful proposal. Read a full show...
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Jenny Aker: Mobile Phones for Development—Hope vs. Hype
Are mobile phones revolutionizing development in Africa, or have they been over-hyped? My guest this week, Jenny Aker, says the truth is a little of both. Jenny is an assistant professor at Tufts University's Fletcher School and a non-resident fellow here at the Center for Global Development. Her research interests include the impact of communication technologies in poor countries, especially Africa. Read a full show summary on the Wonkcast site: http://www.cgdev.org/wonkcast
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Turning the Tide Through Better Prevention: Mead Over on...
Even as the cost of treating HIV/AIDS has fallen dramatically, the number of people newly infected has remained high. What can be done to reverse this trend and finally defeat this disease? This week on the Wonkcast, I’m joined by Mead Over, a senior fellow here at the Center for Global Development and perhaps the world’s leading expert on the economics of HIV/AIDS. He has recently published two major essays, which introduce the concept of the “AIDS transition”—the point in time where the...
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A Report Card for the African Development Bank: Todd Moss
My guest on this week's show is Todd Moss, vice president and senior fellow at the Center for Global Development. Todd directed a working group that, in 2006, issued six recommendations, three each for bank management and the bank's shareholder countries. Now, Todd has issued a report card that grades the bank and its shareholders on each of the recommendations. Read a full summary on the Wonkcast site: http://blogs.cgdev.org/global_prosperity_wonkcast
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The Economics of Child Soldiering: Chris Blattman
This week, I'm joined on the Global Prosperity Wonkcast by Chris Blattman, assistant professor of political science and economics at Yale University and a non-resident fellow here at the Center for Global Development. Much of Chris' research tries to understand what happens after child soldiers return home, with the goal of designing programs that can better reintegrate former combatants into society. He also explores the logic that explains why guerrilla armies in many conflicts use child...
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Paul Romer’s Bold New Idea for Charter Cities
The planet's population will swell by two to three billion people over the next few decades. Where will all those people live? My guest on this week’s Global Prosperity Wonkcast has a bold new idea. Paul Romer is a senior fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, a non-resident fellow here at the Center for Global Development, and one of the world’s leading growth economists. He is proposing brand new cities—he calls them 'charter cities'—built from the ground up with...
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Fighting Corruption in Nigeria: Nuhu Ribadu
Can a few brave souls make a difference in the fight against corruption? My guest on the Global Prosperity Wonkcast this week is Nuhu Ribadu, the former head of Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission or EFCC and a visiting fellow here at the Center for Global Development. Nuhu is working on a manuscript that tells the story of his four years (2003-2007) at the helm of the EFCC during which he won more than 275 convictions and recovered an astonishing $5 billion in stolen assets....
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Nick Kristof on Story Telling and Development
How can people who care about international development interest the public? Last month, CGD hosted award-winning New York Times columnist Nick Kristof, one of the world’s most powerful voices on issues ranging from women’s rights to global health to genocide. In this special edition of the Global Prosperity Wonkcast, I’ve put together excerpts of Nick’s remarks and the question and answer session that followed. For those of us who were in the room, it was a valuable glimpse into how Nick...
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Connecting Citizens: Twaweza’s Rakesh Rajani on Public...
Has technology boosted the ability of citizens in African countries to influence their governments? This week, I'm joined by Rakesh Rajani, founder and head of Twaweza, an initiative that promotes transparency and accountability in Tanzania and other countries in East Africa. His organization has made good use of both new and old technologies—cellphones, TV, and radio broadcasts—to expand the ability of citizens to access government information and hold their leaders accountable. Rakesh...
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Following the Money: Owen Barder On Why Aid Transparency...
My guest this week is Owen Barder, a visiting fellow here at the Center for the Global Development and the director of the AidInfo project at Development Initiatives, a UK-based NGO. Owen's current work focuses on improving the transparency of the international aid system—making it easier to know where and how aid is being spent. Owen explains that more easily available aid data would benefit a number of audiences. Researchers and policymakers need the data to study what aid interventions...
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Market Access for the Poor: Kimberly Ann Elliott on...
This week, I’m joined on the Global Prosperity Wonkcast by Kimberly Ann Elliott, a senior fellow here at the Center for Global Development. Kim’s research focuses on ways in which rich country trade policy affects the developing world. She currently chairs CGD’s working group on Global Trade Preference Reform. Trade preferences are a way for countries to offer access to their markets to poor countries, in spite of other import tariffs or quotas that might otherwise apply. Kim tells me that...
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Cash on Delivery Aid: Ayah Mahgoub on COD in Education
I'm joined this week by Ayah Mahgoub, a program coordinator here at the Center for Global Development who works on issues related to the effectiveness of foreign aid. Along with Nancy Birdsall and Bill Savedoff, Ayah is working on designing a new form of development assistance called Cash on Delivery Aid that would pay for progress on specific development outcomes. Nancy summed up the basic idea of the Cash on Delivery approach on a Wonkcast last month—read that post or go here for a short...
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Getting Aid Right in Northern Uganda—Interview with...
I'm joined on the Wonkcast this week by Julius Kiiza, a visiting fellow here at the Center for Global Development. Julius is an associate professor at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda and is spending time at CGD on a grant from the Canadian International Development Research Center. His research addresses the prospects for aid effectiveness and development in northern Uganda. Read a full show summary on the Wonkcast site.
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David Roodman on Microfinance and a Year of Blogging
My guest on this week’s show is David Roodman, a research fellow here at CGD who has spent the past year writing a book on microfinance. He has shared this experience online through his open book blog, posting chapter drafts, analyzing ongoing research in the field, and soliciting comments and suggestions. I ask David why he decided to write his book in such a public way, and what he’s learned over the last year. David replies that when it comes to policy research, people write books for...
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Nancy Birdsall on Cash on Delivery Aid
Can aid donors find a better way to deliver aid? My guest this week is Nancy Birdsall, president of the Center for Global Development. Along with William Savedoff and Ayah Mahgoub, Nancy is working on a potential new way of disbursing foreign assistance called Cash on Delivery Aid. COD Aid seeks to devise simple, results-based contracts that reward developing countries for making progress towards previously agreed goals—such as increased primary school completion rates, vaccination coverage,...
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