Michael Woolcock (Harvard), Simon Szreter (Cambridge) and Vijayendra Rao (World Bank): How and Why Does History Matter for Development Policy. Can developing countries carry the world economy? Reinventing the Wheel: Why no-tech ancient civilizations still can't catch up. A review of “Was the Wealth of Nations Determined in 1000 BC?” by Diego Comin. A review of The Crisis Caravan: What’s Wrong With Humanitarian Aid? by Linda Polman (and more and more and more). Nicholas N. Eberstadt on the Global Poverty Paradox: Hopes for the achievement of worldwide prosperity have dimmed. A review of Politics as Usual: What Lies Behind the Pro-Poor Rhetoric by Thomas Pogge. Jeffrey Frankel on big ideas from small countries. Grameen Bank and microcredit: The "wonderful story" that never happened. As highlighted by the Millennium Development Goals, measuring development is crucial; Leandro Prados de la Escosura presents a new human development index challenging the UN measure. UN asks countries to put out their welcome mats for refugees. From New Internationalist, a special issue on global migration, including Dinyar Godrej on why we have to hear the stories of those turned away at our borders. Mark Leon Goldberg on the world’s 22 most crisis prone countries. From Foreign Policy, Elizabeth Dickinson on what it costs to run Somalia; and how much turf does the Somali government really control? The New World Order: Tribal ties — race, ethnicity, and religion — are becoming more important than borders. From UN Chronicle, a special issue on achieving global health. As populations age, a chance for younger nations: Populations are getting older faster, which leads to more globalization, which means even older countries (and more and more). Everyone is panicked that the world is aging, but let's stop to consider what such a world could be. Maddison’s forecasts revisited: What will the world look like in 2030? From Carnegie Council, a panel on facing the crises of our time: The United Nations and the United States in the 21st century.
