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Independent research & practical ideas for global prosperity
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Independent research & practical ideas for global prosperity
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At the second anniversary of the Haiti earthquake in January 2012, slow reconstruction and recovery efforts sparked soul-searching and debate in the development community. Why aren’t recovery efforts moving faster? Are international donors and NGOs helping or hurting recovery? Can traditional aid work amidst Haiti's weak government institutions? Are there alternative approaches that would be better?
Because Haiti epitomizes many of the most difficult challenges of development, it has attracted substantial interest from CGD researchers. Their fresh ideas include using migration as a disaster recovery tool and cell phones to put money directly into the hands of earthquake victims. Below, highlights from their recent work:
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 payment, could strengthen the social contract, fight corruption, and lay the foundation for future prosperity.
CGD President Nancy Birdsall's article on U.S. policy toward Pakistan was featured on Foreign Policy.
Nancy Birdsall and Lawrence MacDonald were mentioned in an article on the World Bank's Program for Results on Climate Wire.
Senior fellow David Roodman's article on microfinance was featured on Foreign Policy.
Senior fellow Charles Kenny's article on overseas schooling was featured on Foreign Policy.
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 uses satellite data to provide rapid, high-resolution tracking of tropical deforestation.
We discuss some surprising findings from David’s newly released analysis (Forest Clearing in the Pantropics: December 2005-August 2011) of the FORMA data. There is both good news and bad news. Total forest clearing has dropped during the global recession, but with enormous variation within countries and across regions, he says. For example, there have been large declines in the rate of forest clearing in Brazil, Bolivia, Indonesia, and Paraguay but large increases in Myanmar, Malaysia, Peru, and Venezuela. A companion paper (Economic Dynamics and Forest Clearing) finds that economic factors such as market prices, exchange rates, and interest rates all influence forest clearing. The availability of communications infrastructure such as mobile phones, zoning, rainfall and terrain slope also play a role.
Senior fellow Charles Kenny's article on peak oil was published in Bloomberg Businessweek.
Senior fellows Owen Barder and Michael Clemens were mentioned in a post on the World Economic Forum from The Guardian.
Senior Fellow Charles Kenny's book 'Getting Better' was mentioned in an AllAfrica.com interview with Bill Gates.
In his weekly column for Foreign Policy, Senior Fellow Charles Kenny discusses the implications of the global financial crisis on global deforestation.
Program-for-Results (PforR), a new World Bank lending instrument, is one of several innovative approaches to development aid that focus on measurable development outcomes. Proponents argue that PforR will help strengthen institutions, build capacity, and enhance partnerships. Critics contend it may bypass hard-won social and environmental safeguards. This event will include an overview of the approach followed by a panel discussion with aid experts with a variety of perspectives.
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 distinct from the bottom billion in poor and fragile states that Paul Collier wrote about in a popular 2007 book.
In this week’s Wonkcast, I ask Amanda Glassman, a CGD research fellow and director of our global health policy program, how global health funders should respond to the emergence of the new bottom billion. Should money that now goes to the world’s poorest countries be reallocated to reach poor people who happen to live in the new MICs? Are there other ways that the global community can help? Amanda’s answers draw on the findings of a new working paper she wrote jointly with Sumner and Denizhan Duran, and an accompanying policy brief.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Washington, D.C. (January 20, 2012)—The U.S. decision this week to include Haiti in the list of countries eligible for America’s largest temporary employment visa program opens the way for impoverished Haitians to earn more over the next ten years than the entire U.S. earthquake reconstruction aid package—at zero cost to the U.S. government and no increase in overall U.S. immigration, according to a migration policy scholar at the Center for Global Development (CGD).
CGD senior fellow Michael Clemens, who led a CGD effort to get Haiti added to the list of countries eligible for H-2 temporary worker visas, said that if just 2% of the roughly 100,000 H-2 visas issued each year go to Haitians, over ten years Haitians working in the U.S. would earn about $400 million, most of which would be sent home as remittances. That’s equal to all U.S. aid for Haiti earthquake reconstruction, but most of that money goes to U.S. contractors.
Senior Fellow Liliana Rojas-Suarez was interviewed on CNN Español about the 2012 global economic prospects.
Senior fellow Charles Kenny's piece on global health and new inexpensive health interventions was published on SciDev.net.
Senior fellow Charles Kenny's weekly Foreign Policy column on polio eradication.
As part of a special edition of CNN program, CNN Dinero, Senior Fellow Liliana Rojas-Suarez formed part of a panel discussing global economic prospects for 2012. She emphasized that events in Europe will determine growth prospects around the globe. Liliana is not optimistic about the resolution of the Eurozone crisis given the lack of a decisive and coordinated efforts to deal with two major problems: (a) mounting difficulties in the banking sector; and (b) the European Central Bank’s reluctance to behave as a lender of last resort. If this trend were to continue in 2012, a number of defaults will materialize and the Eurozone will not survive in its current form. A much needed large increase in IMF resources to contain the European crisis will also continue to face severe impediments in 2012 in view of the ongoing political mess in the US, whose vote is needed for a formal increase in the lender’s resources.
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 recent upsets in U.S.-Pakistan relations and offer practical suggestions, drawn from the CGD Study Group’s report and a recent open letter from CGD president Nancy Birdsall to deputy secretary of state Thomas Nides, which focuses on U.S. support for private sector growth in Pakistan.
A comment piece on natural resource rents and cash transfers by Senior fellows Todd Moss and Alan Gelb was published in Financial Time's This is Africa.
Senior fellow and Director for Europe Owen Barder on economic growth and the developing world's dependence on aid in The Guardian.
Senior fellow Charles Kenny's book, "Getting Better: Why Global Development Is Succeeding – And How We Can Improve the World Even More," was featured in The Washington Diplomat.
Microfinance has been whiplashed by the hype cycle. Where it once was seen as a powerful treatment for poverty, recent headlines have favored phrases such as “borrower revolt,” “doesn’t work after all,” and “suicide.” What to make of this cacophony? David Roodman seeks the sensible truth in his new book, Due Diligence: An Impertinent Inquiry into Microfinance, with an investigation that is unprecedented in its depth and breadth. He concludes that, while financial services are no more likely to lift people out of poverty than clean water and electricity, the microfinance movement has built thriving industries that deliver valuable services to millions of poor people. The challenge going forward is to help microfinance play to its strengths. In general, that calls for putting less money into microcredit, to avoid credit bubbles and increase the incentive for microfinance institutions to take savings deposits.
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 consider four conference outcomes that Owen identified in a blog post http://www.owen.org/blog/5131 soon after the conference: increased participation by emerging donors; a new deal for fragile states; significant progress on transparency, including a U.S. decision to join the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI); and significant changes in the international governance of the aid system.
Senior fellow Todd Moss was interviewed for the BBC's World Service Focus on Africa show on Nigerian petrol subsidies.
Research fellow Milan Vaishnav and non-resident fellow Devesh Kapur's paper on concrete and corruption in India was featured on the WSJ's Review blog.
Senior Fellow Arvind Subramanian's opinion piece on Indian and Chinese economic reforms was featured in the Financial Times opinion section.
Senior Fellow Charles Kenny's piece on development and concrete was included in the Jan/Feb issue of Foreign Policy.
David Roodman's book Due Diligence was featured in an article in the Guardian's Poverty Matters Blog.
Senior Fellow David Wheeler was interviewed for a Climate Wire article on deforestation and FORMA.
Senior Fellow Vijaya Ramachandran's blog post on African Infrastructure was picked up by the Huffington Post .
Senior fellow David Roodman was quoted in a TIME magazine article on his new microfinance book Due Diligence.
Senior fellow Liliana Rojas-Suarez was quoted in a Wall Street Journal article on emerging country economies.
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 poor people, he hopes his book will help the industry shift away from its traditional emphasis on credit to other services focused on savings, insurance, and new technology.
Washington, D.C. (January 3, 2012)—A new book from the Center for Global Development (CGD) cuts through the hype and backlash surrounding microfinance and concludes that while tiny loans do not end poverty, the microfinance movement has scored respectable successes in building dynamic institutions that deliver useful services to millions. Poor people, after all, need loans, savings accounts, and insurance no less than the rich.
CGD was recignized in Nick Kristof's blog for The New York Times about the annoucement of his annual Win-A-Trip Contest.
CGD was recignized in Nick Kristof's column in The New York Times about the annoucement of his annual Win-A-Trip Contest.
Senior fellow Charles Kenny was interviewed as part of The Guardian's end of the year development podcast.
Most low-income countries (LICs) recovered swiftly from the 2008-9 global crisis and have grown strongly since early 2010. But progress in rebuilding macroeconomic buffers has been slow, and the LICs are now less well prepared to deal with external shocks than they were before the crisis. At a time when the risks to the global outlook are intensifying, a new IMF study finds that many LICs would struggle to cope with a renewed global downturn. In a second report, the IMF and World Bank explore the role contingent financial instruments—such as commodity hedging, contingent debt, and insurance—could play to help LICs manage global volatility. IMF staff will present the key findings of these studies, highlighting the policy implications for LICs and the international community, with comments by expert discussants to follow.
At this breakfast discussion, CGD policy analyst Casey Dunning will forecast which countries the MCC board is likely to select for FY2012 compact and threshold funding at its December 15th board meeting. This deliberation marks the ninth round of the MCC eligibility selection process. Drawing on a recent MCA Monitor analysis, Casey Dunning and Owen McCarthy will highlight current issues affecting the MCC’s selection process, including the new selection system, second compact eligibility, and the revised threshold program—and suggest principles that should guide the MCC board and management team as they choose eligible countries for FY2012.
As the year draws to a close, we at the Center for Global Development pause from our regular newsletters to thank you for your interest in our work and mission. We will be back in January with the weekly development updates and invitations to the lively, informative events that you have come to expect from us. Meanwhile, our president, Nancy Birdsall, has some news and a request to share with you.
Senior Fellow Liliana Rojas-Suarez was interviewed by CNN en Español on dealing with the current banking problems in Europe. With the escalation of the banking problems, some countries, such as Greece, need a comprehensive restructuring of their banking systems, while many others need a TARP-like program to support re-capitalizations. As the crisis keeps progressing, liquidity support from the European Central Bank (ECB) is proving insufficient. Assistance from the IMF is pivotal to support not only Europe but also the rest of the world should a full-fledged crisis emerge in Europe. The situation is complicated by the fact that the IMF is in need of greater funds and their largest stake holder, the United States, is not in a position to offer support due to their own political challenges.
Senior fellow Charles Kenny's Foreign Policy column on improvements to global goodwill also mentioned CGD research assistant Jonathan Karver.
Senior fellow Michael Clemens' piece on International Migrants Day was featured in the Huffington Post.
The center was mentioned in a ONE blog on IFAD funding.
Senior fellow Alan Gelb was mentioned in a Slate article on biometric identification.
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 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 receive them, and those who remain at home. In this week’s Wonkcast we discuss his four-point research agenda, and explore why some important questions about labor mobility are so rarely investigated.
Senior fellow Charles Kenny's weekly column in Foreign Policy on Afghanistan.
Senior fellow Arvind Subramanian's op-ed piece on trade agreements was featured in the Financial Times.
Join us in honoring Geeta Rao Gupta, winner of the 2011 Commitment to Development Award, sponsored by the Center for Global Development (CGD) and Foreign Policy Magazine. Bestowed annually since 2003, the Award honors an individual or organization that has made a significant contribution to changing attitudes and policies towards the developing world. Geeta Rao Gupta, former president of the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW), has provided strong leadership in ensuring a steady flow of research evidence about how to translate advocacy for women in the developing world into policy priorities and practical programs. Gender would not have such a fundamental role in development if not for the work that Geeta and her predecessors and successors have championed at ICRW.
Senior fellow Charles Kenny's piece on climate change was features in Businessweek.
Senior fellow Arvind Subramanian was interviewed by NPR's Morning Edition on the European debt crisis.
Nancy Birdsall and Paul Romer were mentioned in an Economist article on the sister cities development idea.
Senior fellow Mead Over's piece on the AIDS transition was featured in Foreign Affairs.
Senior fellow Arvind Subramanian was featured in a Wall Street Journal article on global trade negotiations.
The center was mentioned in an Atlantic article on the Arab Spring.
Senior fellow Charles Kenny's weekly column in Foreign Policy on water.
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 construction.
Senior fellow Michael Clemens was featured in an Economist article on the need for randomized trials to determine aid effectiveness.
Senior fellow Charles Kenny's weekly column in Foreign Policy on AIDS funding.
Senior fellow Liliana Rojas-Suarez was quoted in a Bloomberg article on Jon Huntsman's debt argument.
Senior fellow Mead Over was mentioned in a Financial Times article on the Global Fund.
President Nancy Birdsall was quoted in a Bloomberg article on the European debt crisis.
Senior fellow Kim Elliott was interviewed by NPR on the effect of sanctions on Syria.
Lawrence MacDonald was quoted in a Voice of America article on aid effectiveness.
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 for or against military involvement in development, they recognize its occurrence and offer practical recommendations.
Nancy Birdsall, Andy Sumner, Arvind Subramanian and Lant Pritchett were featured in Foreign Policy's Top 100 Global Thinkers list.
Senior fellow Charles Kenny's interview with Bill and Melinda Gates was featured in Foreign Policy.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (November 28, 2011) --- Geeta Rao Gupta, former president of the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW), is the 2011 winner of the Commitment to Development "Ideas in Action" Award, sponsored jointly by the Center for Global Development (CGD) and Foreign Policy magazine.
The award, bestowed annually since 2003, honors an individual or organization for making a significant contribution to changing attitudes and policies of the rich and powerful toward the developing world.
“Geeta’s leadership at ICRW ensured a constant flow of research evidence about how to translate advocacy for women in the developing world into policy priorities and practical programs. Her own work on the link between women’s status and the AIDS pandemic is one example; her plenary address at the 2000 International AIDS conference in Durban, South Africa, put gender at the heart of the global fight against the HIV/AIDS epidemic,” said CGD president Nancy Birdsall, co-chair of the selection committee.
Senior fellow Todd Moss' piece on Solyndra and foreign aid was featured in the Huffington Post.
Senior fellow Owen Barder and QuODA were mentioned in a ONE blog on IATI.
Senior fellow Charles Kenny's weekly column in Foreign Policy on Thanksgiving.
Senior fellow Mead Over was interviewed by ONE on sustainable AIDS treatment.
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.
Senior fellow Todd Moss was mentioned in a Financial Times Germany article on Libya.
President Nancy Birdsall's piece on aid effectiveness was featured in the Huffington Post.
President Nancy Birdsall's piece on the HIV/AIDS prevention budget was featured in the Huffington Post.
Senior fellow Vijaya Ramachandran and senior fellow Alan Gelb were quoted in a Financial Times article on China.
Nandini Oomman was mentioned in a Huffington Post blog on USAID.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (November 16, 2011) — Ending the AIDS pandemic requires a new international goal—an AIDS transition—that focuses on reducing the number of new infections below the number of AIDS deaths so that the total number of people with HIV/AIDS declines, according to a new book by one of the world’s leading experts on the epidemic.
Senior fellow Charles Kenny's weekly Foreign Policy column on Occupy Wall Street.
Director of Rethinking U.S. Foreign Assistance Program Connie Veillette was quoted in an ABC News article on foreign aid.
Senior fellow Arvind Subramanian was quoted in a Reuters article on the effects of a Chinese bailout on Europe.
Director of Public Health Amanda Glassman's piece on clinical trials was featured in The Atlantic.
Senior fellow Todd Moss was quoted in an AllAfrica.com article on Ghana.
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 explains that he and Nancy Birdsall began work on QuODA after aid effectiveness forums in Paris and Accra drew international attention to the importance of aid quality. Previously the debate had focused almost entirely on quantity and how well recipients used aid, rather than the problems and opportunities in how the aid was delivered.
Senior fellow Arvind Subramanian was mentioned in a Bloomberg article on the myth of China's future as world superpower.
Senior fellow Arvind Subramanian was mentioned in a TIME article on India's future role as global economic power.
Senior fellow Todd Moss's blog on sovereign wealth funds was featured in the Huffington Post.
Non-resident fellow Peter Timmer was featured on NPR's Planet Money on the 2008 food crisis.
Senior fellow Michael Clemens was mentioned in Ezra Klein's Washington Post wonkblog.
Steve Radelet's book Emerging Africa was reviewed by Foreign Affairs.
Senior fellow Michael Clemens was featured in a Univision article on the benefits of migration.
President Nancy Birdsall was mentioned in a Washington Times article on corruption in the United States and India.
Senior fellow Mead Over was quoted in a New York Times article on Hilary Clinton's goal of creating an 'AIDS-free generation'.
Senior fellow Charles Kenny's weekly Foreign Policy column on aid effectiveness mentions the 2011 Commitment to Development.
Senior fellow William Cline's op-ed piece on the European economic crisis was featured in U.S. News & World Report.
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 infections below the number of AIDS deaths, so that the total number of people with HIV/AIDS declines.
Nancy Birdsall, Milan Vaishnav and Danny Cutherall's op-ed piece on the IMF was featured in The Nation.
Amanda Glassman was quoted in a Voice of America article on neglected diseases.
The Arab Spring has grabbed the world’s attention, yet Iraq—the Arab country that not long ago was the very epicenter of American foreign policy—has almost entirely fallen off the front pages. While Iraq’s security has improved greatly, the country is still struggling to consolidate a functional government and come up with a coherent spending plan for its oil wealth. In a new CGD working paper, “Iraq’s Last Window: Diffusing the Risks of a Petro-State,” Johnny West, a longtime journalist in the Middle East and author of the recent book, Karama! Journeys through the Arab Spring, identifies a new opportunity for direct distribution of Iraqi oil rents that he argues could halve poverty, diversify the economy and cement territorial integrity by giving Iraqis a stake in their oil wealth. The event will feature a brief presentation of the paper by West, followed by a discussion with a distinguished panel.
Senior fellow Charles Kenny's piece on economic growth was featured in Businessweek.
Nancy Birdsall, Milan Vaishnav, and Danny Cutherall's op-ed piece on Pakistan and the IMF was featured in Foreign Policy's AFPAK channel.
Senior fellow Arvind Subramanian was mentioned in a Businessweek article on the BRICs and the European debt crisis.
The center's 2011 Commitment to Development Index was featured in a Business Insider article.
Research fellow Amanda Glassman was featured in a Voice of America segment on neglected diseases.
CGD was mentioned in an El Pais article on the world's growing population.
The center's 2011 Commitment to Development was featured in a Washington Post ThinkTanked blog.
An estimated one billion people suffer from one or more neglected diseases like Tuberculosis, Malaria, Dengue Fever or others, and hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent to find effective treatments. Medicines, therapies and treatments have been discovered, but regulatory barriers in the late-stage clinical trials of developing countries have prevented these drugs from helping those in need.
CGD's new clinical trials report was featured in a Science and Development Network article.
Charles Kenny was mentioned in a Daily Mail article on the increase in optimist American books.
Senior fellow Charles Kenny was mentioned in a Washington Post article on small businesses.
Senior fellow Charles Kenny's book Getting Better was mentioned in a Guardian article on the optimistic American books.
CGD's new clinical trials report was featured in a PharmaTimes article.
Senior fellow Arvind Subramanian was quoted in an NPR article on the European bailout.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (October 31, 2011) — Scores of new medicines and other medical products to treat deadly diseases in poor countries are caught in a regulatory labyrinth that slows approvals, raises costs and sometimes puts patients at risk, according to a new report from the Center for Global Development.
Senior fellow Charles Kenny's weekly column in Foreign Policy on disaster aid.
David Roodman and Owen Barder's piece on the 2011 Commitment to Development Index was featured in The Guardian.
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 fell in the rankings because of slower immigration from developing countries.
I also ask David about CGD’s new research data disclosure policy, and its potential to help him improve the Index. As a result of this policy, which David initiated, and the World Bank’s decision to offer free access to its World Development Indicators, full CDI data and “do files” are now available on-line. David encourages students and researchers to poke at it—he is modestly confident that somebody will find some bugs. To read full show summary of the Wonkcast go to www.cgdev.org/wonkcast.
Senior fellow Arvind Subramanian was mentioned in a Washington Post wonk blog.
Senior fellow Arvind Subramanian's op-ed piece on the need for a Chinese bailout of Europe was featured in The New York Times.
Senior fellow Charles Kenny's book was mentioned in a Los Angeles Times article on Bill Gates' new hobby reviewing books.
Senior fellow Arvind Subramanian's piece on China's future as a world superpower was featured in the Business Standard.
Oct 25, 2011
Senior fellow Charles Kenny was mentioned in a Foreign Policy article on America's decline.
Senior fellow Charles Kenny's weekly Foreign Policy blog on the economic decline of the West.
In this Wonkcast, originally posted on July 2010, Tom Bollyky explains the problems that motivated him in establishing CGD’s Clinical Trials and Regulatory Pathways Working Group. The group’s final report, Safer, Faster, Cheaper: Improving Clinical Trials and Regulatory Pathways to Fight Neglected Diseases, will be released on Monday, October 31, with keynote remarks by Margaret Hamburg, Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Listen to the Wonkcast to understand the problems and get a sneak preview on the proposed solutions. RSVP here to attend the event.
President Nancy Birdsall was mentioned in a Business Standard article on the Indian middle class.
The Center for Global Development was mentioned in an American Spectator article on aid to Libya.
The Center for Global Development was mentioned in a Roll Call article on U.S. foreign aid.
Senior fellow Michael Clemens's article on the need for evaluation of the Millennium Villages Project was featured in The Guardian.
Senior fellow Charles Kenny's piece on the benefits of alternative energy on the poor was featured in Slate.
Senior fellow Charles Kenny's weekly column in Foreign Policy on happiness.
Senior fellow Todd Moss was quoted in an Africa.com blog on Liberian businesses.
Senior fellow Charles Kenny's piece on the benefits of clean energy on the developing world was featured in Grist.
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 the president of the World Bank when Paul Wolfowitz resigned from that post in 2007. The big take away (summarized in CGD working papers here and here): Regardless of nationality, a huge majority of respondents agree on the need to reform the leadership selection processes for the two Bretton Woods institutions.
Senior fellow Mead Over was mentioned in a Slate article on the Copenhagen Consensus and fighting AIDS.
Senior fellow Charles Kenny's article on China's growing economy was featured in Bloomberg Businessweek.
Senior fellow Michael Clemens was mentioned in an AllAfrica.com article on the Millennium Villages Project.
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, Lynne Rienner, 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.
Senior fellow Charles Kenny's weekly column in Foreign Policy on the benefits of skilled migration.
Senior fellow Michael Clemens was interviewed by the BBC World Service on the economic benefits of migration.
Senior fellow Michael Clemens was mentioned in a Guardian blog on the Millennium Villages.
Senior fellow Charles Kenny's piece the need for more effective aid donations was featured in Foreign Policy.
Senior fellow Todd Moss was mentioned in an Atlantic article on Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf's nobel peace price.
Senior fellow Arvind Subramanian's piece on China's growing power was featured in The Business Times.
Policy Analyst Casey Dunning was quoted in an IPS article on the fight to retain U.S. funding for aid.
A table detailing the legal basis for sanctions on Sudan
Senior fellow Owen Barder was interviewed for a BBC Radio segement on aid.
Senior fellow Charles Kenny's weekly column in Foreign Policy on improving health care in developing countries.
Senior fellow Owen Barder was quoted in a Christian Science Monitor article on the effect of patents on aid.
Policy analyst Danny Cutherell was quoted in an NPR article on U.S. aid to Pakistan.
The Center for Global development was mentioned in a Reuters article on Sudan's debt risks.
Senior fellow Michael Clemens was mentioned in a Forbes article on immigration policy.
Senior fellow Charles Kenny was quoted in a Huffington Post article on immigration.
Senior fellow Charles Kenny was quoted in a Washington Post article on the effects of immigration on small-businesses.
Senior Fellow Liliana Rojas-Suarez was interviewed by America Economia on the possible effects of the global financial crisis in Latin America.
Policy Analyst Danny Cutherall was quoted in a Reuters article on U.S. aid to Pakistan.
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, Owen Barder, CGD senior fellow, director of our European program, and host of the podcast Development Drums, updates us on the state of the development debate in these global gatherings. I also invite him to reflect on whether such confabs, including the last week’s UN General Assembly in New York and November’s upcoming High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan, South Korea, ultimately make any difference. His conclusion can be summed up simply: “can’t live with em, can’t live without em.”
Senior fellow Arvind Subramanian's article on China's growing dominance was featured in The Business Times.
Senior fellow Charles Kenny's weekly colunm in Foreign Policy on the global markets.
Senior Fellow Arvind Subramanian was featured in an oxford style debate in The Economist about the yuan.
Senior fellow Arvind Subramanian was mentioned in an Economist article on the Chinese yuan.
Senior fellow Arvind Subramanian was mentioned in a Fiscal Times article on the future strength of the Chinese yuan.
Senior fellow Arvind Subramanian was mentioned in an article in The Economist on the current shift in global economic power.
Senior fellow Arvind Subramanian was mentioned in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece on the Chinese yuan.
Nancy Birdsall, Owen Barder, David Roodman and Michael Clemens were mentioned in a Guardian blog on the top twenty global development twitter users to follow.
Owen Barder was quoted in a Wired article on the role technology can play in creating accountability in development.
“February 2021. 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 more like economic inevitability – a world in which the United States has no choice but to cede global leadership to China—and accept it’s terms, which in this imaginary case includes withdrawal from the Western Pacific. Arvind joins me on this week’s Wonkcast to explain the careful quantitative analysis that underpins that startling opening passage from his new book Eclipse: Living in the Shadow of China’s Economic Dominance.
Senior fellow Michael Clemens was mentioned in a Financial Times article on emigration.
Amanda Glassman was quoted in a PBS article on non-communicable diseases.
Senior fellow Charles Kenny's weekly column in Foreign Policy on the middle class.
Senior Fellow Liliana Rojas-Suarez was interviewed by CNN en Español on the current debt crisis within Europe. In this interview she states her view that a banking crisis is highly likely within Europe. She notes that, in addition to the recent issues experienced by the French banks, many other European banks are struggling. As opposed to the United States, the problems in Europe started in the public sector and moved to the private sector; the banks, in particular. Also in contrast to the US, the European banks don’t have a full Lender of Last Resort (a function that the European Central Bank is not committed to pursue). Moreover, given the political disagreements within Germany, a TARP like program does not seem probable. In this context, banks’ recapitalization would need to take place with private sector resources, which are not forth coming given the low levels of confidence in European financial systems as the risk of contagion increases. For example, French banks have a large exposure to debt issued by Greece. At this point, if the ECB were to develop a deposit guarantee fund, Germany will have to provide the backing, which at this point looks unlikely.
The Center for Global Development's recent report on Pakistan was mentioned in a Foreign Policy AFPAK Channel article on Pakistan's developing relationship with Iran.
Senior fellow Todd Moss's piece on oil to cash in Iraq was featured in The Huffington Post.
Senior fellow Charles Kenny's weekly column in Foreign Policy on the importance of being a globally conscious consumer.
CGD was mentioned in an AllAfrica.com article on growing global concern for noncommunicable diseases.
Senior fellow Charles Kenny was mentioned in a New York Times opinion piece on global pessimism.
Senior fellow Arvind Subramanian was mentioned in a Financial Times blog about the Chinese renminbi.
Amanda Glassman's piece on low-cost preventative measures for reducing non-communicable diseases was featured in The Atlantic.
Senior fellow Arvind Subramanian's new book Eclipse was mentioned in a Business Standard article on China's future as the world's leading country.
Senior fellow Charles Kenny was mentioned in a Time article on whether the United States should fear China's economic and military growth.
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 Petro State. Johnny’s experience in the Middle East makes him think that the region just might be ripe for an Oil 2 Cash revolution that could help foster improvements in governance and reduce poverty.
He tells me that on a recent trip to Libya, while bouncing across the country on half-built dirt roads in the back of a pickup, he reflected on some startling calculations about the country’s oil industry. During the 42 years of Gaddafi rule, the dictator accumulated over $1 trillion in oil rents. At the same time, much of the country remains poor and a startling number of Libyans can neither read nor write.
Senior fellow Arvind Subrmanian was featured in an Economist blog on China's future economic dominance.
Senior fellow Arvind Subramanian was mentioned in a Wall Street Journal blog on China's economic growth.
Amanda Glassman and Kate McQueston's piece on the U.S.' lack of preparedness for handling a future public health emergency was featured in The Atlantic.
Senior fellow Michael Clemens was mentioned in a Huffington Post article on the benefits of immigration to the U.S. economy.
Senior fellow Michael Clemens was mentioned in an Economist article on global unemployment.
Senior fellow Arvind Subramanian was quoted in an Economist article on China's booming economy.
Senior fellow Michael Clemens' blog on the importance of emigration to the world economy was featured in the Huffington Post.
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 receive them, and those who remain at home. In this week’s Wonkcast we discuss his four-point research agenda, and explore why some important questions about labor mobility are so rarely investigated.
Take the topic of so-called “brain drain.” While plenty of research has gone into documenting the exodus of skilled workers from developing countries, Michael says, little research has examined the actual effects of these departures on those left behind—and even less has considered the welfare gains to those who move. “When people talk about migration at the international level, they tend to only focus on the costs,” says Michael. “This negative labeling happens to such a degree that they eventually define the movement with a pejorative little rhyme, brain drain.”
Senior Fellow Charles Kenny's weekly Foreign Policy column on China's economic rise.
Todd Moss and Arvind Subramanian were quoted in a CNN article on the oil resource curse in Libya.
Senior fellow Vijaya Ramachandran and research assistant Julie Walz's piece on improving the U.S. military's role in international development was featured in The Guardian's Poverty Matters blog.
Senior fellow Michael Clemens was mentioned in a Huffington Post blog on U.S. immigration reform.
Senior fellow Michael Clemens's piece on the benefits of international migration was featured in The Guardian's Poverty Matters blog.
Senior Fellow Arvind Subramanian's new book on China was featured in a Financial Times blog.
Senior Fellow Todd Moss's piece on developing countries and debt was featured in Bloomberg Businessweek.
Senior Fellow Arvind Subramanian was quoted in a Reuters article on China's future role as the world's reserve currency.
What does extreme hyperinflation look like? Consider a pile of currency tall enough to encircle our entire galaxy. That’s how many Zimbabwean dollars you would have needed by the end of the country’s extraordinary inflationary crisis to equal one pre-crisis Zim dollar, according to CGD senior fellow Alan 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 a blog post that provided the starting point for our Wonkcast chat.
Senior Fellow Charles Kenny's weekly Foreign Policy column on extreme weather and war.
Senior fellow Arvind Subramanian was quoted in a Business Today article on India's recent economic growth.
Alan Gelb's paper on Oil to Cash in Uganda was featured in a VOA article.
Kim Elliott's work on DIRT sanctions was mentioned in a Huffington Post piece by Johnny West.
Arvind Subramanian's Business Standard piece on countering China's economic dominance.
Arvind Subramanian was mentioned in a Financial Times opinion piece by Dani Rodrik.
Charles Kenny's Weekly Foreign Policy Column on Mexico's inequality
Michael Clemens' paper on barriers to emigration was featured in the Economist's Democracy in America blog.
Senior fellow Arvind Subramanian in Foreign Affairs on China's dominance.
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 creation, design, evaluation, and political survival of Mexico’s Progresa/Oportunidades anti-poverty program, which has become a model for both impact evaluation and for conditional cash transfer programs around the world. On this week’s show, she draws on her new paper to tell me the story of scholar-practitioners and Protgresa/Oportunidades.
Senior fellow Alan Gelb's working paper on oil to cash in Uganda was mentioned in an AllAfrica.com/Daily Monitor article about Ugandan oil revenues.
Senior fellow David Roodman was mentioned in a Guardian Poverty Matters blog on the sobering reality of microfinance.
Director of the HIV/AIDS Monitor Nandini Oomman was quoted in a PBS Newshour article on globals AIDS funding.
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, who joins me this week to discuss his latest blog post, Death by Tobacco: A Big Problem Needs Bigger Action. Upon returning from a meeting on tobacco control in New York City last month. Bill set out to raise the alarm about something he found to be shockingly little-known: the shockingly low cost of highly effective tobacco controls.
Senior fellow Alan Gelb and research assistant Stephanie Majerowicz were quoted in a Daily Monitor/AllAfrica.com article on Oil to Cash in Uganda.
Research assistant Jake Grover was quoted in a ClimateWire article on famine in Africa.
Senior fellow David Roodman was quoted in a Huffington Post article on Muhammad Yunus's work to improve the microfinance industry.
Senior fellow Charles Kenny's weekly column in Foreign Policy on America's global decline.
CGD was mentioned in a Huffington Post article on hunger in Pakistan.
Nancy Birdsall was featured in an article in The Washington Diplomat on the her work as president of the Center for Global Development.
Senior Fellow Liliana Rojas-Suarez was interviewed by CNN en Español on the European Central Bank’s (ECB) recent purchases of bonds from Italy and Spain. She notes that the size and duration of the intervention is important in determining its efficacy. Without a clear commitment by the ECB to act as a lender of last resort, the current monetary intervention will do little to resolve deeper economic problems within the European Union. Even more, a sustainable resolution of the crisis involves the restructuring of Italy and Spain’s bad debt in Europe’s peripheral countries.
Senior fellow Liliana Rojas- Suarez discusses the U.S. credit rating downgrade and its effects. She emphasizes that the fundamental problems behind the 2008 financial crisis – namely the deeply troubled mortgage markets - have not been solved, and that this downgrade, together with the ongoing European crisis, are indicative of an impending long period of very low global growth. Rojas-Suarez predicts that there will be no quick economic recovery for the United States resulting in stagnant growth and unemployment rates.
In celebration of our 10th anniversary, we prepared this film to recount some of CGD's greatest impact achievements over the years. The video features three short stories detailing our work on the 2008 global financial crisis, clean-tech finance, and HIV/AIDS and includes two bonus vignettes about COD Aid and our Closing the Evaluation GAP initiative.
It’s not often that the United Nations sees fit to officially declare a food 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 message Owen Barder drove home to me in this week’s Wonkcast. Owen acquired an intimate understanding of the realities of food scarcity when he traveled to Ethiopia during the food crisis of 1984-85, and more recently while spending three years in the capital, Addis Ababa. To him, governance and information are central components of food emergencies.
Senior fellow Charles Kenny's weekly column in Foreign Policy on culture and development outcomes.
Non-resident fellow Devesh Kapur and visiting fellow Milan Vaishnav's study on builders and campaign election finance was featured in an article in The Indian Express.
CGD president Nancy Birdsall and senior fellow Arvind Subramanian were quoted in a Wall Street Journal article on U.S. funding of the World Bank.
Senior fellow Liliana Rojas-Suarez was interviewed by Clarin on the U.S. debt ceiling.
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.
Mobile phone use has spread across Africa at a stunning pace. The percentage of Africans who could access a mobile phone leapt from only 10% in 1999 to more than 60% by 2008—far outstripping improvements in other infrastructure (roads, clean water, or indeed landline telephones). In a new CGD working paper, to be published later this summer in the Journal of Economic Perspectives, Jenny and her co-author Isaac Mbiti describe four main ways phones have been applied to the problems of the poor. In the Wonkcast, we discuss these four applications:
Senior fellow Charles Kenny's weekly column in Foreign Policy on low-carbon regulation.
Senior fellow Lilliana Rojas-Suarez was interviewed on CNN en Español about the debt ceiling and Latin American economies.
CGD Senior fellow Liliana Rojas-Suarez discusses what implications might befell Latin American economies if the U.S. does not raise its debt ceiling.
Senior fellow Charles Kenny was interviewed on PBS's Ideas Into Action on Progress in Africa.
Research fellow Ben Leo was quoted in a Reuters article on development aid.
Senior fellow Arvind Sumbramanian was quoted in a New York Times article on billionaires in India.
Senior fellow Charles Kenny's book Getting Better was featured in the Huffington Post.
Senior fellow Arvind Subramanian's column in Business Standard on India's inflation.
Senior fellow Charles Kenny's weekly column in Foreign Policy on famine in Somalia.
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Senior fellow Charles Kenny's weekly column in Foreign Policy on poverty elimination.
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 highest price.
On this week’s Wonkcast, I invite senior CGD fellow and global finance expert Liliana Rojas-Suarez to explain why it’s important to the rest of the world that Europe and the United States put their financial affairs in order. The showdown in the U.S. is especially worrying, Liliana says, because of the U.S. dollar’s role as the international reserve currency.
Senior fellow David Wheeler was featured in a New York Times article about his new climate research on low-carbon energy investments and the developing world.
Senior fellow Charles Kenny was mentioned in a Huffington Post UK article on international aid.
Senior fellow Arvind Subramanian was mentioned in a Fiscal Times article on China's rapidly growing economy.
President Nancy Birdsall's post on the IMF and Christine Lagarde was published in The Huffington Post.
Senior fellow Charles Kenny and visitng fellow Andy Sumner were mentioned in a AllAfrica.com article on Zambia's reclassification as a middle-income country by the World Bank.
Senior fellow Charles Kenny was a guest on the David Sirota Radio Show.
Research fellow Amanda Glassman and Dr. Orin Levine's post on vaccines was published in The Huffington Post.
CGD's Commitment to Development Index was mentioned in an Express Tribune article.
Senior fellow Arvind Subramanian was quoted in a Wall Street Journal article about the IMF.
Visiting fellow Andy Sumner and senior fellow Charles Kenny's piece on the increase in middle income countries was featured in The Guardian.
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.
Senior fellow Arvind Subramanian was quoted in a Wall Street Journal article on Chinese exports.
CGD was mentioned in a Bloomberg article on South Sudan's independence.
Visiting fellow Andy Sumner was quoted in a Globe and Mail article on the Middle Class.
Senior fellow Charles Kenny's weekly column in Foreign Policy on electricity in the developing world.
Senior fellow Charles Kenny's piece on advanced market commitments was featured in CNN.
Policy Analyst Wren Elhai was mentioned in an article in The Guardian about aid to Pakistan.
Senior fellow Lilana Rojas- Suárez was mentioned in a ABC Economia article about Latin American Economies.
Senior fellow Charles Kenny's piece on immigration was featured in Bloomberg Businessweek.
Senior fellow Vijaya Ramachandran and research fellow Ben Leo's blog on the G20 and hedging was featured in The Huffington Post.
Senior fellow Liliana Rojas-Suárez was feautured in an Economia article on Brazil.
Senior fellow David Roodman was mentioned in a Huffington Post blog on impact evaluations.
Senior fellow Charles Kenny's weekly article in Foreign Policy on regulation.
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 Connie Veillette, director of CGD’s Rethinking U.S. Foreign Assistance Program and CGD research fellow Ben Leo. Having closely tracked U.S. and international food aid, both have concluded that reforms in financing, procurement and delivery can help ensure that food aid reaches more people who need it at lower cost.
CGD's event with Raj Shah was mentioned in a Washington Post article about USAID contractors.
Senior fellow Arvind Subramanian was quoted in a post in The New Republic about the IMF.
Senior fellow David Roodman was quoted in a New York Times article about the World Bank.
Director of global health policy and research fellow Amanda Glassman was quoted in a PBS article on treating sleep sickness.
Senior fellow Charles Kenny was featured in a Reuters post on money and happiness.
Senior fellow Owen Barder was interviewed for a VOA segment on Christine Lagarde and the IMF.
President Nancy Birdsall was quoted in a Washington Post article about Christine Lagarde and the IMF.
Arvind Subramanian was quoted in a Fox News article about Christine Lagarde and the IMF.
Senior fellow Arvind Subramanian was quoted in a Reuters article about Christine Lagarde and the IMF.
Senior fellow Charles Kenny's weekly article in Foreign Policy on Vaccines.
Senior fellow Arvind Subramanian was quoted in a Wall Street Journal article about Christine Lagarde and the IMF.
Senior fellow Arvind Subramanian was quoted in a VOA article about the IMF.
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 senior fellow Alan Gelb who has been researching the potential for new biometric technology, such as computerized finger printing and iris scans, to help poor countries leapfrog the long and complicated process of setting up ID systems.
In our conversation, Alan explains the depth of the problem in the developing world. “In most rich countries there are already identity systems that work more or less well,” he says. “In many poor countries, not only is there no consistent identity system but at least half of the people don’t have records of birth at all. They simply don’t exist.”
President Sirleaf, the first woman to be elected head of state in Africa, provides her perspective on the role the private sector can play in Liberia and in emerging Africa more broadly. Todd Moss moderates a question and answer session after the president’s speech.
Senior fellow David Wheeler's climate vulnerability work was featured in a New York Times article on climate change in the Middle East.
CGD's report on aid to Pakistan was mentioned in a Pakistan Observer article.
Senior fellow Arvind Subramanian's piece on growth in India was featured in the Business Standard .
Senior fellow Charles Kenny's weekly article in Foreign Policy on the Democratic Republic of Congo.
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 to offer advice to the region’s regulators and policymakers. Our focus is the group’s latest statement, which urges unconventional measures for extraordinary times.
Senior fellow Charles Kenny's article on beer in the developing world was featured in Forieign Policy .
Senior fellow Charles Kenny was quoted in a International Business Times article on the Arab Spring and foreign aid.
President Nancy Birdsall was quoted in an Express Tribune article about CGD's new report on U.S. aid to Pakistan.
Senior fellow Michael Clemens' article on impact evaluations and the Millenium Villages was featured in Boston Review Magazine.
Senior fellow Arvind Subramanian was quoted in an NPR article about IMF selection and emerging nations.
CGD's new report on aid to Pakistan was mentioned in a Huffington Post article about Indian-Pakistani peace.
Charles Kenny's Foreign Policy column on improving vision in the developing world was featured in The Washington Post's Think Tanked blog.
Senior fellow Liliana Rojas-Suarez was interviewed by Ambito Financiero and La Familia de Broward about her recent CLAAF meeting.
Senior fellow Charles Kenny was interviewed on PRI's The World segment about new Senate report critical of U.S. Foreign Aid to Afghanistan.
Senior fellow Charle Kenny's weekly Foreign Policy column on treating poor vision in the developing world.
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 vaccines at discount by purchasing in bulk, then passes the savings onto poor countries and expanding coverage. Over the past 10 years, GAVI estimates it has saved 5 million children from vaccine vaccine-preventable diseases, an accomplishment which Amanda considers to be remarkable.
CGD's survey about potential IMF leaders was mentioned in a Bloomberg article.
CGD director of global health policy Amanda Glassman and visiting fellow Andy Sumner's article on Gavi funding was featured in The Guardian.
Policy analyst Wren Elhai was quoted in a Huffington Post article on U.S. aid to Pakistan.
Senior fellow Arvind Subramanian was mentioned in an Al Jazeera opinion piece on China and the United States economy.
CGD was mentioned in a Bloomberg article on Sudan's debt.
Senior fellow Charles Kenny's weekly Foreign Affairs column on using cash transfers to improve security in Afghanistan.
This article was also featured in Foreign Policy's AfPak Channel.
CGD's Millions Saved by Ruth Levine was listed in a Humanosphere article as one of Raj Shah's top five favorite books on development.
WASHINGTON, D.C.(June 7, 2011)—Latin American economies face substantial risks of credit and asset bubbles due to a flood of capital fleeing economic and financial uncertainties in the United States and Europe and should take steps to slow the growth of credit, a group of the region’s top economists and financial experts said in a report released today.
WASHINGTON, D.C.(June 7, 2011)—Las economías de América Latina enfrentan riesgos substanciales de burbujas de crédito y en el precio de los activos debido a una gran entrada de capitales que huyen de las incertidumbres económicas y financieras de los Estados Unidos y Europa y deben tomar medidas para desacelerar el crecimiento del crédito, concluyeron un grupo de sobresalientes economistas y expertos financieros de la región.
Fallout from the killing of Osama bin Laden in a Pakistani garrison town has prompted an anxious reassessment of all facets of the complex, troubled alliance between the United States and Pakistan. A new report from CGD’s Study Group on U.S. Development Strategy in Pakistan shines light on a crucial and too-often neglected aspect of the relationship: the aid, trade and investment policies that constitute America’s effort to support Pakistan’s development.
As we celebrate our 10th year, we look back with pride and astonishment at the Center’s many achievements in a wide range of sectors and fields. Ten of these are recounted in the first part of this special 10th Anniversary report. We are also looking ahead, devising fresh ways to tackle tough issues in a world that is very different from the one in which the Center began.
Since its founding in 2001, CGD has earned a reputation as a “think-and-do” tank that undertakes rigorous research, then crafts and pushes practical policy proposals to make the world a fairer, safer place.
The Center’s work in its first decade includes real-world impacts such as the research, analysis, and policy engagement that led to the creation of a pilot $1.5 billion Advance Market Commitment (AMC) that accelerated development and delivery of a vaccine against a pneumonia-related virus that kills some 3 million children in the developing world every year. Health workers in a dozen countries began administering the life-saving vaccine this year, and AMC-like mechanisms are now being proposed for other global health needs and in areas such as clean energy and agricultural innovation.
CGD’s work was also instrumental in obtaining billions of dollars in debt relief for Nigeria and Liberia, and CGD research is currently contributing to a negotiated division of debt between northern Sudan and the newly independent south.
"The Center has had influence and impact beyond my most optimistic expectations,” says Edward Scott, CGD’s founding chair. “My core ambition was to create an organization that would be more than just a sandbox for economists, but one that would have direct and meaningful impact on the plight of the world's poor. I believe we have done that.” He adds that CGD president Nancy Birdsall “has assembled an extraordinary team that has both passion and intellect. I am exceedingly proud of what the Center has achieved."
CGD has organized several events this year as part of an ongoing celebration, including the first CGD alumni gathering and the 2011 Embassy Progressive Dinner. The June 8 event, which is sold out, will bring together individuals who are working on and influencing development policy, including ambassadors, members of the U.S. Congress, current and former heads of state, senior corporate executives, philanthropists, celebrities, academics and friends, to celebrate CGD’s work.
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 United States’ official humanitarian response to natural disasters. Michael, who leads CGD’s work on migration and development, recently commissioned a working paper to figure out what if anything can be done to open a channel for limited numbers of disaster refugees to enter the United States.
CGD's report on U.S. aid to Pakistan was featured in an AFP article.
Nancy Birdsall was quoted in a Bloomberg article about selecting the new leader of the IMF.
President Nancy Birdsall and vice president of communications Lawrence MacDonald were quoted in a Huffington Post article about selecting the new leader of the IMF.
CGD's new report on aid to Pakistan was mentioned by Steve Inskeep on NPR.
President Nancy Birdsall was quoted in a USA TODAY article about former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn.
CGD's new report on aid to Pakistan was mentioned in a VOA article.
The Latin-American Shadow Financial Regulatory Committee (CLAAF) will be launching their 24th statement on June 7th, 2011 at an event hosted by the Center for Global Development. CLAAF is a group of prestigious Latin-American economists with strong expertise in financial markets and other macroeconomic issues.
President Nancy Birdsall was quoted in The Economic Times in an article about CGD's new report on Pakistan.
President Nancy Birdsall and senior policy analyst Molly Kinder were featured in a IPS article about CGD's report on aid to Pakistan.
President Nancy Birdsall was featured in The Dawn in an article about the Center's new report on Pakistan.
Senior Fellow Charles Kenny was interviewed by allAfrica.com about foreign aid to Africa.
Senior fellow Charles Kenny's weekly Foreign Affairs column on outsourcing American health care.
CGD's new report about U.S. Aid to Pakistan was mentioned in the Associated Press of Pakistan.
CGD's new report on Pakistan was mentioned in the BBC's Day in Pictures.
CGD policy analyst Wren Elhai was quoted in a Washington Times article about the Center's new report on U.S. aid to Pakistan.
CGD president Nancy Birdsall's article about U.S. aid to Pakistan was featured in Foreign Policy's AFPAK Channel.
WASHINGTON D.C.(2 de Junio del 2011)- El Comité Latinoamericano de Asuntos Financieros (CLAAF), un grupo de prestigiosos economistas latinoamericanos, presentarán brevemente una declaración donde discutirá la magnitud de los daños potenciales para el crecimiento y la estabilidad en las economías emergentes, especialmente en América Latina, derivadas de los graves problemas que enfrentan los países desarrollados.
WASHINGTON, D.C.(June 2, 2011)—Please join us for the bi-annual meeting of The Latin-American Shadow Financial Regulatory Committee (CLAAF) led by committee president and CGD senior fellow Liliana Rojas-Suarez. At the event, CLAAF will participate in a panel discussion on the extent of the potential damage to growth and stability in emerging market economies, especially Latin America, arising from the severe problems facing developed countries.
WASHINGTON, D.C.(June 7, 2011)—The Center for Global Development (CGD) will mark its 10th Anniversary on June 8 with an unusual event that will feature three venues on or near Washington’s famed “Embassy Row”: cocktails at the Residence of the British Ambassador, dinner at the Embassy of Finland, and desserts at the Residence of the Norwegian Ambassador.
CGD president Nancy Birdsall was interviewed by CNN's Global Public Square about the Center's new report on U.S. aid to Pakistan.
President Nancy Birdsall was featured in a Reuters article about U.S. aid to Pakistan.
This article was also run by the following news outlets: The Express Tribune,Fox News, The Chicago Tribune,The Wall Street Journal, and the Los Angeles Times.
CGD's new report on U.S. aid to Pakistan was featured in an AP article.
This article was run by the following news outlets: CNBC, Forbes, The Denver Post, The Seattle Times, The Miami Herald, Newsday.com, MSNBC, The San Francisco Examiner, Bloomberg Businessweek,and The Huffington Post..
CGD president Nancy Birdsall was quoted by CNN in an article about the Center's new report on U.S. Aid to Pakistan.
WASHINGTON, D.C.(June 1, 2011)-U.S. and Pakistani development experts are urging a substantial revamp of the U.S. approach to Pakistan, saying that U.S. efforts to build prosperity in the nuclear-armed nation with a fledgling democratic government, burgeoning youth population, and shadowy intelligence services are not yet on course.
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 flexibility in IMF bailout programs.
Against this background, CGD is pushing ahead with a survey on the selection process, qualifications and candidates for the IMF top job. I asked CGD president Nancy Birdsall, who has been arguing for a more open, merit-based selection process without regard for nationality, to join me on the show to share her views on the IMF leadership selection battle and the initial results from our survey.
The Center for Global Development is proud to have hosted Prof. Michael Kremer (Harvard) and Sarah Baird (GWU) as part of the Massachusetts Avenue Development Seminar (MADS) series. They presented the long-term, follow-up results of Prof. Kremer's research on deworming in Kenyan schools that shows significant, long-term gains in employment and earnings among dewormed children.
Senior fellow Michael Clemens and non-resident fellow Devesh Kapur's work on migration was featured in an article in The Economist.
Director of Rethinking U.S. Foreign Assistance Program Connie Veillette's op-ed piece was featured on CNN's Global Public Square website on foreign aid.
CGD president Nancy Birdsall was featured in an AlMasryAlYoum article about aid to Egypt.
Senior fellow Liliana Rojas-Suarez in an AFP article about emerging countries and IMF selection.
Resident fellow Thomas Bollyky's piece in The Atlantic on international tobacco control.
Senior fellow Arvind Subramanian in a Business Standard article on the IMF and Keynes.
Senior fellow Liliana Rojas-Suarez in a BBC article about choosing the new leader of the IMF.
President Nancy Birdsall was featured in a IPS article on her IMF blog post.
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 is CGD senior fellow David Roodman, who has been tracking the Yunus trial since it began as part of his Microfinance Open Book Blog. The book in public on the blog, Due Diligence: An Impertinent Inquiry into Microfinance, is nearing completion and will be published before the end of the year.
Senior fellow David Wheeler was featured in a Business Day article on his vulnerability Index.
Senior fellow Arvind Subramanian was quoted in an updated article on Reuters on the IMF.
Senior fellow Charles Kenny was featured in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece by Bill Gates on the success of foreign aid.
Senior fellow Owen Barder was interviewed on Voice of America news about the IMF.
Senior fellow Arvind Subramanian was quoted in an article on Fox News online about the IMF leadership.
Senior fellow Arvind Subramanian was quoted in an article on Globe and Mail on the IMF.
Senior fellow Arvind Subramanian was quoted in an article on AFP/ Radio Free Asia on the IMF.
Non-resident fellow Michael Kremer was featured in Nick Kristof's column in the New York Times.
Senior fellow Arvind Subramanian was quoted in an article on Reuters on the IMF.
CGD was mentioned in an opinion piece in the International Herald Tribune about Pakistan.
Rachel Nugent authored a piece on population growth and family planning for the New York Times.
Arvind Subramanian was quoted in a Wall Street Journal article on the IMF.
David Roodman was interviewed on BBC Radio about the microfinance crisis.
Charles Kenny and Getting Better mentioned in Bill Gates' speech at World Health Assembly on AllAfrica.com.
Nancy Birdsall was interviewed on Reuters TV for Reuters Insider.
Connie Veillette's 5 ways to reduce the cost of foreign aid was featured in a Washington Post column by Ezra Klein.
David Roodman was quoted in a microfinance article in The Seattle Times.
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 birthday. Her mounting impatience is nicely summed up in a blog post she wrote about the anniversary: Happy 2nd Birthday to the U.S. Global Health Initiative: Next Time I Want a Goody Bag!
Dean Karlan and Jacob Appel present an new approach to global poverty reduction that combines behavioral economics with worldwide field research.Dean Karlan and Jacob Appel present an new approach to global poverty reduction that combines behavioral economics with worldwide field research. Their book takes readers into villages across Africa, India, South America, and the Philippines, where economic theory collides with real life. They show how small changes in banking, insurance, health care, and other development initiatives that take into account human irrationality can drastically improve the well-being of poor people. More Than Good Intentions provides a new way to understand what really works to reduce poverty; in so doing, it reveals how to better invest charitable gifts and official assistance to make a difference in the lives of poor people.
Nancy Birdsall did an on-air op-ed on Pakistan for Marketplace
Nancy Birdsall participated in a discussion on Foreign Affairs Live
CGD was mentioned in an article on COD aid in the Guardian's Poverty Matters blog.
David Roodman quoted in a KPLU's Humanosphere piece on the microfinance panel in Seattle.
David Roodman interviewed in a ABC news (Australian) radio story on Yunus.
Arvind Subramanian was mentioned in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece on India, China and the US.
Nancy Birdsall was quoted in a Pakistan piece on Congress.org.
Charles Kenny's weekly Foreign Policy column on development success vs. the apocalypse.
Charles Kenny's weekly Foreign Policy column on development success vs. the apocalypse.
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 series of open letters. One of the main themes of the work has been that the United States should be modest and cautious about what development aid to Pakistan can achieve. Nonetheless, following a recent trip to Pakistan, and notwithstanding U.S. suspicions that elements of Pakistan’s security forces might have been complicit in hiding Bin Laden, Nancy maintains that sustaining aid to Pakistan is in the United States’ own national interest.
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 Kim. “But I don’t expect there to be much progress, principally because the United States has shown no interest in moving on this.”
Nancy Birdsall mentioned in an opinion piece in the Dawn newspaper in Pakistan.
Charles Kenny's book 'Getting Better' was featured in the Globalist as book of the week.
Andy Sumner and Nancy Birdsall in the Guardian on middle classes and catalytic classes.
Charles Kenny was quoted in an Economist piece on development based television/radio shows
Charles Kenny's weekly Foreign Policy column on measuring corruption.
Rachel Nugent was quoted in a New York Times piece on world population and family planning.
Nancy Birdsall was interviewed on Marketplace about U.S. aid to Pakistan post finding Osama bin Laden
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 International Initiative for Impact Evaluation, or 3ie (“Triple I E”). Following a recent CGD speech by Esther Duflo on the importance of impact evaluation, I sat down with Bill to talk about how new impact evaluations are shaping development projects and policy.
Arvind Subramanian's piece in the Washington Post: "How we undervalue China".
Nancy Birdsall in the New York Times on the U.S. aid plan in Pakistan.
Charles Kenny's weekly column in Foreign Policy on indigenous societies
Arvind Subramanian in the Business Standard on India's leadership & corruption.
Todd Moss's blog and video on fixing US Development Policy in Huffington Post
A growing share of the Multilateral Development Banks’ (MDBs) business involves private firms. Lending to, investing in and guaranteeing private firms accounted for more than a third of MDB financial operations in 2008, up from less than a fifth at the start of the decade. What’s driving this surge? Is it appropriate to use scarce global public resources to invest in private firms? Is it good for development? This new CGD report by Guillermo Perry, a former finance minister in Colombia and World Bank chief economist for Latin America, examines this trend. The report identifies the activities, firms, sectors and countries benefiting from the MDB’s private sector operations and explores whether it catalyzes or competes with private financial markets. Perry explores how governments and private firms can benefit, while avoiding conflicts of interest. He concludes the report with a proposed agenda for MDB-private sector activity.
The United States has committed $1.5 billion per year over five years in an effort to support development in Pakistan, 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?
Dean Karlan's piece on malaria, an excerpt from his new book More Than Good Intentions on Reuters' AlertNet blog.
Charles Kenny's piece on the impact of recessions on democracy in Foreign Policy.
David Roodman was recognized in this Harvard Business Review piece on Yunus and Mortensen.
Charles Kenny's weekly Foreign Policy Column on Doha and trade in developing countries.
On Thursday, March 24, the Center for Global Develompent hosted William Nordhaus of Yale University for a conversation on the efficacy of carbon taxes and other leading carbon reducing strategies. Professor Nordhaus is one of the world's leading experts on the economics of climate change and a leading proponent of carbon taxes.
Sarah Jane Staats was quoted in an Inter Press Service article on the FY2011 Budget.
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 new paper, "Quantifying Vulnerability to Climate Change: Implications for Adaptation Assistance", provides an index for comparison of cross-country vulnerability to some of the most extreme climate threats. An accompanying map makes it easy to see which countries will be hit hardest.
Alan Gelb and CGD non-resident fellow Jenny Aker were featured in a Christian Science Monitor article on biometrics and new technologies
CGD's UNFPA report mentioned in Inter Press Service article on stillbirths and family planning.
Owen Barder's piece on aid transparency was featured in the Public Service Review.
CGD Pakistani journalist event was mentioned in The Express Tribune/ IHT
Charles Kenny's weekly Foreign Policy column on money and happiness.
Nandini Oomman's WHO post was also featured on the Huffington Post.
Ben Leo was quoted in a Christian Science Monitor article on Liberia and debt relief.
WASHINGTON, D.C.(April 11, 2011)— The new head of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) should focus on the agency’s core mission—promoting sexual and reproductive health, including universal access to family planning, according to a Center for Global Development (CGD) study released today.
Development scholar-practitioner Duflo was the featured speaker at CGD's sixth annual Richard H. Sabot Lecture honoring the life and work of Richard "Dick" Sabot, a friend, co-author, and founding member of CGD's board of directors. CGD president Nancy Birdsall hosted and served as moderator for the discussion following the talk.
Nancy Birdsall was featured in an article by the Pakistan Observer.
Nancy Birdsall was featured in two articles during her recent Pakistan Trip: Daily Times and International News Network.
The new head of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) should focus on the agency’s core mission—promoting sexual and reproductive health, including universal access to family planning, according to a Center for Global Development (CGD) study released today.
UNFPA’s new executive director, Babatunde Osotimehin, a former minister of health in Nigeria, has taken the helm at a time when UNFPA’s mission is receiving greater attention than ever. Yet the agency has been engaged in a broad range of activities that dilute its impact on high-priority Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which include improving child and maternal health, the report says.
UNFPA itself reports that an estimated 215 million women lack access to the modern contraceptives they need to prevent unwanted pregnancies each year. Other studies show that roughly 76 million pregnancies are unplanned and unwanted, and approximately 350,000 maternal deaths occur worldwide annually.
“UNFPA should focus on its core mission: expanding access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights for women around the world,” says Rachel Nugent, CGD deputy director of global health and co-chair of the working group that prepared the report. “Executive Director Osotimehin can lead the way in preventing thousands of maternal deaths and millions of unwanted pregnancies worldwide each year.”
David Bloom, a working group co-chair and chair of the department of Global Health and Population at the Harvard School of Public Health, adds: “Enabling women to avoid unwanted pregnancies is one of the best investments that the international community can make. UNFPA should position itself to be the global champion on this critical issue.”
Jotham Musinguzi, also a working group co-chair and the Africa regional director of Partners in Population and Development, an alliance involving 25 developing countries, says: “Investments in sexual and reproductive health services contribute to economic growth, societal and gender equity, and even democratic governance. Developing countries look to UNFPA for leadership on these issues.”
UNFPA has been squeezed from opposite ends of the political spectrum. From 2002 to 2008, the U.S. administration withheld funding out of concern that the agency supports programs that may include access to abortion. Conservatives in the U.S. Congress are again threatening to cut UNFPA’s funding as part of the current budget debate underway in Washington. Others have urged UNFPA to widen its remit to include a broad array of programs on the social and economic empowerment of women.
In response, UNFPA has worked on initiatives such as establishing safe spaces for sports, art, and socialization for youth or economically empowering women and youth in vocational training and self-employment—issues that promote the goal of women’s empowerment but risk distracting from the agency’s core mission of ensuring reproductive health and rights and access to contraception.
Since UNFPA, like many other agencies, will likely face flat or reduced funding in the near future, it should be selective and concentrate its activities on the core mission, the report says, and work closely with other UN agencies to accomplish broader goals.
CGD president Nancy Birdsall says that by focusing on its core mandate, UNFPA will be better able to “navigate and lead from its own strength among the many organizations and interests that comprise the population and development and sexual and reproductive health communities. Now is the time for UNFPA to make sexual and reproductive health its key mission.”
The UNFPA report is the latest in a series of CGD studies that offer recommendations to incoming leaders of international organizations.
In addition to Nugent, Bloom, and Musinguzi, sixteen other population and development experts from all regions of the world participated in the group’s deliberations and endorsed the final report.
The report offers four recommendations on how to achieve faster progress on UNFPA’s main objective while reducing redundancy and building on the strengths of various UN agencies that work on population, sexuality, health, women’s empowerment, and other issues related to UNFPA’s core mandate.
Four Recommendations for Action
The recommendations coincide with two of the eight MDGs: child health and maternal health. Specific MDG targets within these goals include reducing maternal mortality by three-quarters, and under-five child mortality by two-thirds from 1990 levels by 2015; as well as achieving universal access to reproductive health, including the unmet need for family planning.
CGD Working Group on UNFPA’s Leadership Transition
CGD organized the group in August 2010 as an independent panel to develop recommendations for UNFPA’s new executive director and associated bodies. Members volunteered their time as individuals, not representing institutions. Recommendations draw upon consultative meetings, one-on-one interviews, expert-panel deliberation, and literature reviews. CGD has previously prepared similar reports on the World Bank (2006), Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (2006), African Development Bank (2006), Inter-American Development Bank (2006), and UNAIDS (2009). Leadership transitions provide an opportunity for the international community to strengthen the institutional mandates, policy focus, resources, and governance of global agencies.
The United Nations Population Fund
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) was established in 1969 as part of the United Nations to generate resources for family planning and provide global leadership on population issues. The diverse needs of countries and evolving global views of population have placed complex issues on UNFPA’s doorstep. Today UNFPA is engaged in a broad range of activities and UNFPA’s objective of promoting sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights is shared with other UN agencies and organizations both public and private. The involvement of many actors is positive—however, UNFPA’s role should be prominent and evident. UNFPA’s staff numbers over 2,000 (including special programs and seconded staff), with more than 80 percent located in 129 country offices and in the 10 liaison and regional offices. In 2009, UNFPA worked in 155 countries and territories—almost one-third of them in sub-Saharan Africa.
In a recent speech, USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah said “The evidence is clear: vaccines are the best public health investment we can make.” As the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) prepares for its June 2011 pledging conference, CGD hosted a panel to look back at global efforts to support vaccination funding in developing countries over the past decade and reflect on lessons learned and future potential. The panel also looked to the issues and challenges facing vaccination financing in the 2010s.
CGD's Global Prosperity Wonkcast was mentioned in a podcast by Planet Money on NPR.
Little is known about health status and health services in North Korea. The reports that are published are often based on a small number of interviews about events from some years past (Amnesty International), or based on manipulated data (World Health Organization). The reports of defectors and increasing information from inside North Korea paints a picture of continued malnutrition, though less than the 1990s. Health indicators continue to deteriorate in North Korea. There are widespread infections such as tuberculosis, typhoid (and paratyphoid), and hepatitis, suggesting a collapse of public health infrastructure. Increasingly medicines are available principally in markets from private vendors. Hospitalization is common and requires gifts to doctors which may exceed 100% of the patient's monthly household income. Drug problems from locally manufactured methamphetamine is an increasing problem, and reports suggest it is widely available.
Charles Kenny's weekly Foreign Policy column on income levels and taxes.
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 doctors don’t like to talk about, such as hospital-bred pathogens that have become immune to antibiotics, drug resistant malaria, and my favorite nightmare, drug resistant TB, which the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates could infect two million people around the globe by 2015.
Michael Clemens uses rich census and administrative microdata to show that high rates of emigration by tertiary-educated Fiji Islanders not only raised investment in tertiary education in Fiji, but also raised the stock of tertiary-educated people in Fiji - net departures.
Todd Moss was quoted in a Guardian post on the rise of the centre-right.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the creation of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), one of a troika of Kennedy-era development institutions (the others being USAID and the Peace Corps) faced with the challenge of transforming themselves to meet the needs of the 21st Century.
In light of this milestone, CGD hosted OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria for a talk titled 21st-Century Multilateralism: The OECD in a G-20 World.
David Roodman was interviewed in a podcast on microfinance for the Guardian.
The Economist summarized part of the CGD Antibiotic Resistance Working Group Report in a recent article on drug resistance efforts.
Liliana Rojas-Suarez was quoted in an Emerging Markets article on inflation.
Devesh Kapur & Arvind Subramanian piece on fighting imported corruption was placed in the Business Standard.
Charles Kenny's book Getting Better was featured in a Guardian article by Madeleine Bunting.
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 explain the problems with traditional aid approaches, and how COD aid would solve these. Too often, she says, aid is given based on priorities set by funders who care more about how their money is spent than what outcomes it produces. COD Aid focuses on outcomes by making aid transfers contingent on yearly incremental improvements in an agreed indicator, such as the number of kids who complete primary school and take a test. (For much more on COD Aid, see here.)
Liliana Rojas-Suarez was quoted in an Emerging Markets article on Latin America's Economy
David Roodman will appear in the Guardian's podcast this month about microfinance.
Ben Leo's post on IDA was placed in the Huffington Post
Nancy Birdsall and Francis Fukuyama discuss their recent Foreign Affairs article “The Post-Washington Consensus: Development After the Crisis” with students, as part of CFR's Academic Conference Call series.
David Roodman and his open book blog was mentioned in The New York Times' Opinionator section in a piece about microfinance.
Andy Sumner discusses the New Bottom Billion in The Atlantic's Daily Dish.
Senior fellows Ben Leo and Todd Moss were mentioned in a Financial Times article on partnerships and development.
Charles Kenny was mentioned in The Atlantic's Daily Dish about his new book Getting Better.
Charles Kenny was mentioned in a post on New York Times' Economix blog about his new book Getting Better.
Director of policy outreach Sarah Jane Staats was quoted in an Associated Press article on U.S. budget cuts and China's growing influence in the developing world.
Charles Kenny was interviewed by David Leonhardt for the New York Times' Economix book chat on his new book Getting Better.
Mar 22, 2011
Charles Kenny's new book Getting Better was featured in a New York Times column on major successes in development.
Charles Kenny's weekly Foreign Policy column on cholera and fighting disease with simple solutions
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 the report authors coined to include such entities as sovereign wealth funds, foreign government employee pension funds, and foreign currency reserve funds.
CGD was mentioned in a New York Times follow-up opinion column on Cash on Delivery Aid
Charles Kenny's article on "sismic inequality" was featured in a Guardian piece on disasters.
Charles Kenny's piece in TIME: "Sweet Bird of Youth! The Case for Optimism.
Nancy Birdsall was featured in a Guardian article on Cash on Delivery Aid
Non-resident fellow Michael Kremer's piece on Behavioral Economics was featured in the Boston Review
Nancy Birdsall's piece on security-focused aid was featured in Newsweek.
Charles Kenny's weekly Foreign Policy column on earthquakes and inequality.
Nancy Birdsall and CGD's work on COD Aid was featured in a New York Times opinion column by Tina Rosenberg
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 is Lant 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. His latest work looks at how the basic functions of government fail to improve in some developing countries (a dynamic he defines as a “state capability trap”). Part of the problem, says Lant, is that donors often insist on transplanting institutions that work in developed countries into environments where those institutions don’t fit at all.
Vij Ramachandran was quoted in a MarketWatch piece on her research on sovereign wealth funds.
Mead Over was quoted in a Bloomberg piece about using cash transfers to help prevent transactional sex.
Research by Ben Leo, Todd Moss, and Andy Sumner was mentioned in a bottom billion article featured on
Yahoo News
David Roodman was quoted in a Mother Jones article on Muhammed Yunus
David Roodman was interviewed by PBS Newshour on Yunus
.Alan Gelb was mentioned in a Foreign Policy article on biometrics
Foreign Policy posted Charles Kenny's weekly column on the impact of recessions on democracy.
CGD research was mentioned in a Reuters article on South Sudan.
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 that focuses on the systemic risks arising from the interaction among banks and other financial institutions. (Liliana had spoken about this at a recent CGD Research in Progress staff meeting; her slides are a useful adjunct to our Wonkcast discussion.)
David Roodman was interviewed on NPR's Planet Money about Muhammad Yunus.
David Roodman was quoted in an article on Muhammad Yunus in The Independent.
David Roodman mentioned in Felix Salmon's Reuters blog post on Muhammad Yunus).
David Roodman was interviewed on Marketplace about Muhammad Yunus and microfinance.
An excerpt from Charles Kenny's migration piece was picked up by the Atlantic's Daily Dish Blog
Charles Kenny discusses Mikhail Gorbachev in this weeks' Foreign Policy column.
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 poverty traps, should be the focus of foreign aid, Collier argued.
Andy Sumner, a visiting fellow at CGD and research fellow at the Institute for Development Studies at Sussex University, is boldly challenging that view with more recent data and a new frame of reference that tell a surprisingly different story: three out of four of the world’s poorest people, Andy asserts, live in middle-income countries with impressive growth rates but may nonetheless are trapped in extreme poverty. Andy joins me on this week’s Wonkcast to discuss his work on this “new” bottom billion.
David Roodman's interview was featured in a blog post on KPLU's Humanosphere and was also highlighted on NPR's website.
At the World Bank on December 10, 2010, CGD senior fellow Michael Clemens and World Bank senior economist Gabriel Demombynes presented their work analyzing the evaluation of the Millennium Villages Project.
Twenty-five years ago, James Foster's influential work with Joel Greer and Erick Thorbecke helped define the way the world measures poverty. Foster will present his recent work on the theory of how to measure poverty when we care not only about income but also other dimensions of well-being such as health and education. Martin Ravallion, Director of the Development Research Group at the World Bank, is the author of a new essay that criticizes the idea of a single multidimensional index. He will argue instead that multiple indicators should be tracked separately.
Michael Clemens, Senior Fellow at the Center for Global Development (CGD) and visiting scholar at the Financial Access Initiative and at NYU-Wagner and the NYU Dept. of Economics (Spring 2011), talks about the findings from his research into the UN Millennium Villages.
CGD was mentioned in a National Journal article on Obama's jobs advisory panel.
Nancy Birdsall's piece 'Development After the Crisis' is being featured in the March/April issue of Foreign Affairs.
David Wheeler was quoted in a New York Times article on climate change vulnerability.
Foreign Policy posted a piece by CGD senior fellow Charles Kenny on why and how the Peace Corps should evolve to stay relevant in todays world.
Foreign Policy featured this piece by CGD senior fellow Charles Kenny on the economic consequences of Disney's efforts to limit the free flow of ideas.
CGD senior fellow Arvind Subramanian helps explain the ideological underpinnings of India's Congress party in this piece by the Business Standard.
The Financial Times featured an article by CGD senior fellow Arvind Subramanian on the economic woes facing new regimes in the Middle East.
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