Investing in infrastructure is crucial for a country’s economic performance and growth prospects. In fact, it not only can make a difference in people’s everyday lives by providing better roads and schools, but it can actually save lives. During the last decade, Chile and Haiti provided two contrasting examples of this in the face of earthquakes due to their different levels of … [Read more...] about What Does Saving Have to Do with Resilience to Natural Disasters?
Fuerza Chile
Once again Chile has been hit by a natural disaster. A powerful earthquake measuring 8,4 on the Richter scale has caused panic, material losses, and irreparable loss of life among the Chilean population. It would seem, however, that so far the death toll and material losses have been relatively low considering the magnitude and duration of the quake. This is not by … [Read more...] about Fuerza Chile
Foreign Aid for Disasters: Never Enough
The destruction was colossal, the after-shocks harrowing. Nepal's April 25th earthquake, measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale, leveled large parts of the country, reduced ancient city centers and mud-brick villages to rubble, and left much of the nation in chaos. More than 5,000 people died, more than 10,000 were injured, and tens of thousands lost their homes. Nations from … [Read more...] about Foreign Aid for Disasters: Never Enough
Tango Lessons for Greece?
Is Greece poised to default on its debt? What happens when its bailout program expires at the end of the month? Will it pull out of the Eurozone? Analysts around the world are betting on a “Grexit,” including Former-Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan who suggested “it’s just a matter of time” until the Eurozone countries, led by the fiscally conservative Germans, and Greece’s leftist … [Read more...] about Tango Lessons for Greece?
Latin America’s Advice to Europe: Be Decisive!
By Eduardo Cavallo, Eduardo Fernández-Arias and Andrew Powell This week, the IMF cut its growth forecasts for the Eurozone by 0.2 and 0.3 percentage points for 2015 and 2016, prompting it to cut its global economic growth forecasts by a similar magnitude. Clearly, economic expectations are turning increasingly pessimistic. The reasons that could explain this “economic … [Read more...] about Latin America’s Advice to Europe: Be Decisive!