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From Development Aid to Mutual Aid: The Argument for Localized Solutions

03.9.21

We must revisit the question of alternatives to development aid. Amid the crisis of the pandemic, mutual aid, which has been utilized as a political survival tactic throughout history, has re-emerged as an alternative to institutional aid. How can this concept be applied to the development context?

How Chinese Foreign Investment is Challenging the United States

11.2.18

BY ELLY ROSTOUM For much of the twenty-first century, Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI) has rapidly expanded, stretching Beijing’s influence across the globe. The influx of Chinese money around the world has imbued many countries with closer relations with Beijing, to the concern of the United States. Investment from both Beijing and Washington is not […]

When Development Isn’t Complicated

07.23.18

BY GRANT TUDOR AND JUSTIN WARNER “The explanation of the amazingly high standard of rice cultivation in Bali is to be found in Montesquieu’s conclusion that ‘the yield of the soil depends less on its richness than on the degree of freedom enjoyed by those who till it.’”[1] – A. Liefrinck, Dutch Colonial Officer, 1887 […]

Wakanda First? Black Panther’s Case for Moral Trade

04.23.18

BY LAURA MERRYFIELD and PRANAV REDDY Black Panther begins with T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) grappling with the dilemma presented by his new role as king of Wakanda. His country is rich in vibranium, a valuable metal that has allowed Wakanda to develop advanced technology and quiet prosperity for its citizens. The previous king, T’Challa’s father, disguised […]

Are Global Goals Always Good? Reflections on the first anniversary of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals

09.23.16

BY GRANT TUDOR September 25 marks the first anniversary of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): a list of global ambitions for improving the state of things. The first is to “end poverty.” The goal’s various targets, which intend to elaborate on what exactly is meant by ending poverty, tell us that by 2030 all […]

Rethinking the Use of Sovereign Wealth Funds in a Knowledge Economy

11.19.13

By Will Hickey The time has come for sovereign wealth funds to produce some meaningful value. Now conservatively valued at around 6 trillion dollars, sovereign wealth funds, or SWFs, are massive state-owned investment vehicles of stocks, bonds, property, precious metals and other financial instruments, including private equity. They are overwhelmingly funded through oil and gas […]

Beginning the End of Slums: How Micro-Mortgages Serve the Poor

04.1.12

BY NISHANT LALWANI It’s a hot Saturday morning in Ahmedabad, India—the last before the monsoons start—and Leeladhar Bhatt Hall is packed with visitors. Hundreds of people have gathered here to attend a two-day customer evaluation session by the Micro Housing Finance Company (MHFC). MHFC has partnered with a builder that is constructing apartments on the […]

Needles in the Haystack: How a New Tool Is Unlocking Entrepreneurship in Africa

04.1.12

If you want to learn a thing or two about business, just ask Leah Mugure Mwaura. Leah is a charming Kenyan grandmother and owner of a clothing wholesale business in Gikomba, a sprawling, dusty, crowded place on the outskirts of Nairobi that is now East Africa’s largest market. Every day, tens of thousands of Kenyans […]

Development and Economic Growth

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