Ideas to Action:
Independent research for global prosperity
CGD recently hosted a roundtable discussion on a set of important questions confronting the multilateral development banks (MDBs) as the market for their loans shrinks: can they help to foster a greatly expanded market for new risk management tools -- such as insurance and other hedging mechanisms -- to
Even by the low standards of American TV news, the so-called journalists who ran last night's Democratic debate on ABC were a disgrace to their profession. TV critic Tom Shales nailed it in today's Washington Post in a column titled: In the Pa. Debate, ABC is the Clear Loser.
Policymakers in the U.S. and European Union have responded to rising oil prices, instability in the Middle East, and concerns about climate change by promoting biofuels as an alternative to petroleum-based gasoline and diesel. But biofuels are now getting much of the blame for soaring food prices and questions are being raised about the purported environmental benefits. As shown in the chart, US production of corn-based ethanol surged over the past two years, coinciding with the run-up in food prices.
The New York Times yesterday (and Paul Krugman earlier in the week) called on rich countries to "step up to the plate" in confronting the food crisis in developing countries -- in the short run by increasing their donations of food aid. and in the medium run by getting rid of economically inefficient, inequitable, and environmentally unsound subsidies for biofuels, especially corn-based ethanol.
Boy, those folks at the World Bank sure can do process! Hot off the printer, the bank proposal for a so-called "Clean Technology Fund (CTF)" prepared for a meeting next week includes pages and pages of verbiage on process. On page 14 they finally get around to saying how the money would be spent. Read it and weep:
In Memphis today, Senator Clinton called for a Cabinet-level poverty czar. This person would be "solely and fully devoted to ending poverty as we know it, that will focus the attention of our nation on this issue and never let it go."
World Bank president Bob Zoellick announced several striking new initiatives in his speech yesterday at a CGD event that drew a standing room-only audience of nearly 200 development specialists.
Robert Zoellick outlined new approaches that the World Bank will take to help solve global problems today in a major speech delivered at an event organized by the Center for Global Development.
International good citizenship is critical for improving America's security and image in the world, according to Sen. John McCain, the presumed Republican nominee for U.S. president. Citing the growing interdependence of the U.S.
Climate change and renewable energy have been a focus of a senior U.S. Congressional visit to India led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, according to the Press Trust of India and other Indian news reports.
Speaker Pelosi said, "Our delegation was very encouraged to hear that the leaders in the Indian business community believe industry can be in the forefront of climate change and energy efficiency initiatives, rather than stand as a barrier to change."
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