CGD Policy Blogs
US Immigration Reform and Guest Workers – Michael Clemens
In this Wonkcast from April 2013, Michael Clemens offers the sort of compelling evidence that can help to shape the US immigration debate, drawing on a still highly relevant CGD brief he co-authored with Lant Pritchett.
Privacy and the Biometric Revolution
What exactly is privacy? As Bob Gellman points out in his new CGD paper, the concept changes from place to place. Scandinavian countries have strict privacy laws, but tax returns are public; the United States has no broad privacy laws, but tax returns are shield from public scrutiny. In some European countries, nude sunbathing is common; in some Muslim countries, women typically appear in public wearing garments that cover the body from head to feet. That’s all to say that privacy—and efforts to protect it—depend on context.
World Bank Reorganization: To What End?
This is a joint post with Mead Over.
The World Bank is reorganizing. Bloomberg reports that president Jim Yong Kim has written staff about a shake-up at the bank’s highest levels in preparation for implementing an as-yet-to-be-announced new institutional strategy. Such can be unsettling for bank employees, some of whom will find their jobs on the line and others who may get new bosses. Is there any reason for the rest of the world to care?
New Money? Cash Savings? A Response to Duncan Green about Development Impact Bonds
Duncan Green recently took on the subject of Development Impact Bonds and impact investing in this blog post, and raised a few reasons for skepticism. As he anticipated, we didn’t really agree with the concerns that came up and wanted to explain why.
USAID: Destined to Disappoint
The FY14 State and Foreign Operations Appropriations bill passed out of the House Appropriations Committee last week is a stinging reminder of the low esteem in which many members of Congress hold global development and the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the primary federal agency charged with delivering US foreign assistance worldwide.
Hip-Hip Hooray: More New Aid Data from USAID & MCC
US aid agencies are on an open data roll this month. On Monday, we applauded Treasury’s release of technical assistance program data in Excel and International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) formats. Yesterday, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) released more than 53,000 FY2013 financial transaction records on the US Foreign Assistance Dashboard, and the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) posted much of its open data catalog information in the IATI format on its website, too. All three agencies will likely see steady or higher marks in the 2013 Aid Transparency Index that comes out in October (but finished collecting data yesterday). Regardless, we're giving a huge “hooray” for the major boost in amount and detail of publicly-available US aid data and hope it spurs interesting analysis and ideas to better communicate and inform development policymaking and practice.
It’s Not All Doom and Gloom for the MDBs in the House Bill
If you pay attention to how the World Bank and the other multilateral development banks (MDBs) fare in the US budget process each year, you have by now gotten used to the feeling of despondence over the House bill, followed by great relief in seeing the Senate version.
Immigration Reform Is Economic Policy: How About Some Economic Evidence?
In the ongoing debate about immigration reform, pundits and politicians alike have spent both broadcast minutes and column inches waxing poetic about protecting American jobs.
FY14 State and Foreign Ops Appropriations: A Development Wonk’s Primer
This is a joint post with Beth Schwanke.
On Capitol Hill, this time of year is marked by hot, sticky weather and a mad scramble (or is it more of a leisurely stroll this year?) to advance the appropriations process before Members of Congress head back to their districts for the August recess. There’s little doubt that the current political and budget climate, complete with automatic sequestration cuts, is complicating this already herculean task.
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