report July 9, 2021 Dr. Carol Graham, Fellow at Brookings Institution (on happiness) McKay Interview Friday, July 9th, 2021 - 35 minutes On this edition of the McKay Interview, Michael speaks to Dr Carol Graham. She's the Leo Pasvolsky Senior Fellow at the renowned Brookings Institution. She is also College Park Professor at the University of... By Brookings Institute, Podcast Episode Brookings Institute
report July 7, 2021 Transnational governance of natural resources for the 21st century Natural resources—whether they are water, land, underground, or in the air—should be seen as common goods, meant to be shared by all. That means their governance arrangements—to be tailored according to the specific property of each resource—should be in harmony at the local, national, regional, and global levels to ensure they are used sustainably and in a way that... By Brookings Institute, Post Brookings Institute
report July 7, 2021 Designing for scale: A worksheet for developing a scaling strategy in education Suddenly talk of scaling and systems change in education seems to be popping up everywhere—and for good reason. Progress toward key educational goals has stalled or even regressed, and education systems have been slow to adopt and integrate disruptive change. As it becomes increasingly clear that planning for scale differs in important ways from typical project planning and from... By Brookings Institute, Post Brookings Institute
report July 7, 2021 Putting scaling principles into practice: Resources to expand and sustain impact in education Deep-rooted, global education challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated—learning inequalities between and within countries, youths dropping out of school, and students in school but not learning—require transforming education systems at large scale to meet all children’s needs. While innovative solutions are being tested in every corner of the world, too many of them remain small. The key question... By Brookings Institute, Report Brookings Institute
report July 7, 2021 3 ways the international community can make gender equality work more transparent The COVID-19 pandemic has underlined that granular and intersectional data is key to “leaving no one behind” and meeting the Sustainable Development Goals. In 2020, world leaders reignited the vision of the Beijing Platform for Action and committed to accelerate the realization of gender equality. This year, the G-7 leaders and countless others at the Generation Equality Forum emphasized... By Brookings Institute, Post Brookings Institute
report July 7, 2021 How can education be the antidote to a world prone to fracture along environmental, social, and economic fault lines? Since 1960, the world’s population has more than doubled. Average life expectancy increased by 50 percent and income per person tripled. The share of people living in extreme poverty declined from 54 percent to 10 percent (data are available through 2018, pre-pandemic). Technology revolutionized how we communicate, how we travel, and even what we eat. For people in China... By Brookings Institute, Post Brookings Institute
report July 6, 2021 How to balance debt and development The COVID-19 pandemic is, we hope, only a temporary shock to economies everywhere. The appropriate policy response to such a disruption is to borrow to cushion the impact on consumption and investment. But for many emerging markets and developing countries, borrowing could result in debt-servicing difficulties that require years of austerity to overcome. Yet, if they do not borrow,... By Brookings Institute, Op-Ed Brookings Institute
report July 6, 2021 City playbook for advancing the SDGs This “City Playbook for Advancing the SDGs” compiles a series of how-to briefs and case studies on advancing sustainable development and social progress locally. These short, digestible, and practical briefs are written by city government officials for other city officials, based on their direct experience. This playbook responds to significant appetite expressed by city leaders for capturing and sharing the... By Brookings Institute, Report Brookings Institute
report July 6, 2021 How should the G-7 respond to China’s BRI? When the leaders of G-7 countries met in Carbis Bay last month, they announced a new Build Back Better World (B3W) plan to support infrastructure projects in low- and middle-income countries and respond to China’s Belt and Road Initiative. There are few details of exactly how the B3W partnership will work, and there are questions about whether focusing on infrastructure... By Brookings Institute, China Brookings Institute
report July 3, 2021 Africa in the news: Eswatini protests, upgrades to Rwanda’s health system, and energy and environment updates Eswatini citizens protest for democracy On Tuesday, June 29, SABC News reported that King Mswati III had fled Eswatini for South Africa, amid protests for democracy throughout the country. However, as of this writing, the location of King Mswati III of Eswatini remains unclear, as the government denies that the king has left the country: Following the allegations, the government... By Brookings Institute, Post, Uncategorized Brookings Institute
report July 2, 2021 Middle-class lifestyles start with $ 10 per person and day For the first time in history, more than half the world’s population belongs to the middle class, freed from the spectre of poverty. Although Covid-19 has temporarily slowed the expansion of the middle class, Homi Kharas of the Washington-based Brookings Institution expects it to continue growing once the world economy recovers. He assessed matters in a D+C/E+Z interview. What defines... By Brookings Institute, External Article Brookings Institute
report July 2, 2021 Protecting forests: Are early warning systems effective? Forests play an indispensable role in bolstering biodiversity, supporting a stable climate, and providing sustainable livelihoods. Yet, the earth is rapidly losing its forests. In the last 30 years, the world has lost 180 million hectares of forest—greater than the total area of Libya. Forests, especially tropical rainforests, are often cleared by illegal operators to acquire open land for... By Brookings Institute, Post Brookings Institute
report July 2, 2021 Capturing Africa’s insurance potential for shared prosperity Among the drivers of economic growth and development in emerging countries, insurance is often overlooked in favor of flashier sectors like technology or infrastructure. In fact, though, insurance is a behind-the-scenes factor driving growth at all levels of society, from family life to massive infrastructure projects to technology development. As discussed in my new report, expanding Africa’s lucrative insurance... By Brookings Institute, Post Brookings Institute
report July 2, 2021 What role should the SEC play in ESG investing? Environmental Social Governance (ESG) issues continue to climb in importance for many investors and policy makers. What role should public policy and financial regulation play in response to ESG concerns? These questions are of particular importance for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) tasked with protecting America’s capital markets and American investors. SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce will share her perspective... By Brookings Institute, Financial Regulation Brookings Institute
report July 2, 2021 Dirty money in offshore banks Billions of dollars and other currencies are in tax havens outside the owner’s country of origin, allowing individuals and corporations to evade taxation by their home governments. Since many of these offshore accounts are secret, it’s difficult to trace what’s legal and what is not. In new research, Brookings expert Matthew Collin, a David M. Rubenstein Fellow in Global... By Brookings Institute, Podcast Episode Brookings Institute
report July 1, 2021 The future of bank overdraft fees Bank overdraft fees have been on the rise for many years as income volatility rises and more Americans live paycheck-to-paycheck. Federal bank regulators have done little to help American families, failing to speed up America’s payment system to address one of the many root causes of overdrafts (slow deposit times) while giving a thumbs up to banks who choose... By Brookings Institute, Financial Regulation Brookings Institute
report July 1, 2021 Remittances: One more thing that economists failed at predicting during COVID-19 Remittances—the flow of capital from immigrants to their families and friends back home—are a crucial source of income for many countries, representing over 20 percent of the GDP in nations such as Tonga, Tajikistan, Haiti, Honduras, and El Salvador, among others. As of 2019, remittances reached an unprecedented level of about $550 billion, becoming the largest financial flow in... By Brookings Institute, Post Brookings Institute
report June 29, 2021 Addressing youth unemployment in Ghana by supporting the agro-processing and tourism sectors As elsewhere in Africa, the issue of jobless growth in Ghana has become a major concern, particularly due to rising unemployment among the youth. Services have emerged as the driver of growth in Ghana, contrary to the experiences in East Asia and other newly industrialized countries where manufacturing exports led growth and added capacity to absorb low- to medium-skilled... By Brookings Institute, Post Brookings Institute
report June 29, 2021 Employment creation potential, labor skills requirements, and skill gaps for young people: Ghana case study Abstract The issues of jobless growth and the poor performance of manufacturing have become major concerns in Africa. A new growth trajectory has emerged in the region with services as the driver of growth, contrary to the expectations of manufacturing export-led transformation with the capacity to absorb low- to medium-skilled workers as previously observed in East Asia and other newly... By Brookings Institute, Report Brookings Institute
report June 29, 2021 Making progress on gender equality: It’s time for more transparency While there are strong commitments to achieving gender equality with sustainable development goal (SDG) 5, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated resource constraints and widened gender inequalities. As underscored by the recent G-7 communiqué, the Generation Equality Forum, and other international forums, there is a recognition that a renewed focus on gender equality is needed. Fundamental to “building back better”... By Brookings Institute, Gender Brookings Institute
