Commentary

In this blog, we look at the UK’s recent patterns in aid allocation. We find that UK aid has drifted away from those countries where extreme poverty is concentrated. The UK’s bilateral aid to Africa has been cut by two-thirds in real terms since 2019. In addition, the UK’s bilateral programmes are n...

The White House issued a press release three days ago apparently designed to justify the ongoing stop-work orders at USAID, alongside pulling agency staff out of the field and locking them out of their offices. I’d argue the release demonstrates precisely why these moves are a mistake. The press rel...

For the past two years, I’ve been part of an incredible interdisciplinary team—spanning economics, sociology, demography, and public health—working on a National Academies (NASEM) consensus study on women’s empowerment and socioeconomic development. The new report builds on NASEM’s influential 1986 ...

Dear Secretary Rubio: There have been few more eloquent advocates for foreign assistance than you. And I believe the case you make for US aid is backed up by considerable empirical evidence. As you have said, “millions of human beings are alive today because [of] the United States, and others in the...

Mexico and Canada have been on the frontline of the new global (dis)order, making their response a potential case study for how economies that are smaller and somewhat dependent on America navigate pressure from the US in this new era of economic coercion. After the 180 degrees reversal on the tarif...

It is urgent to restore operation of America’s life-saving assistance programs, halted under the ongoing 90-day pause of all foreign assistance. Two examples: First, PEPFAR is currently providing lifesaving HIV treatment for 20.6 million people, including 566,000 children. When people come off HIV m...

Anyone who cares about due process, US standing in the world, or global poverty should be outraged by the precipitous decision to shutter USAID.