Some countries, often due to recent or ongoing conflict, have governments that are unable to provide even basic levels of security or social welfare. These weak or fragile states present a complex puzzle for development practitioners and can harbor transnational threats ranging from disease to terrorism. CGD senior fellow Vijaya Ramachandran leads the Center's efforts to improve understanding of fragile states and craft more effective responses to them. She describes her work in the latest edition of the Global Prosperity Wonkcast.

Decades of research have been unable to conclusively show either a positive or negative effect of aid on economic growth in poor countries. CGD senior fellow Arvind Subramanian and Raghuram G. Rajan use a new technique in their latest working paper that suggests aid slows the manufacturing sector by appreciating the exchange rate and making the production of manufacturing goods less profitable. And if aid slows the manufacturing sector, the implications for overall growth could be adverse.