We eat too much, watch too much television, fail to exercise and suffer the consequences of our lack of willpower and self-discipline. None of this is good. Today, as revealed in a recent IDB study, one in four adults in Latin America and the Caribbean is obese, with the Caribbean leading the trend at an alarming rate. That, in turn, results in higher incidences of … [Read more...] about How Using Your Temptations As Bait Can Improve Your Health
About John Dunn Smith
Can Government and Civil Society Unite to Combat Corruption?
Corruption is a public enemy. Brazil's ongoing Lava Jato scandal is only the most recent prominent example of what can happen when government expenditures are undertaken with insufficient transparency and accountability. Pointing out a problem is one thing. Learning how to solve it—or at least contain it—is a different issue altogether, and one that raises a variety of … [Read more...] about Can Government and Civil Society Unite to Combat Corruption?
Tackling Crime and Pollution Together
Crime represents a major concern for Latin Americans. Increasingly, so does pollution. It is unusual, though, to consider relationships and tradeoffs between them. Yet these are precisely the issues explored by Visiting Scholar Paul Carrillo and his George Washington University colleagues Arun Malik and Andrea López in a recent study for the IDB. The authors took as their case … [Read more...] about Tackling Crime and Pollution Together
Trade and Regional Integration: What We Don’t Have To Worry About
The policy recommendations of the IDB’s 2016 Macro Report Time to Act include deepening regional trade integration, a long-sought but still largely elusive goal. A casual observer may wonder why that goal matters. Even though the Free Trade Area of the Americas process failed to produce an agreement, Latin America and the Caribbean have fared well until relatively recently and … [Read more...] about Trade and Regional Integration: What We Don’t Have To Worry About
Happy Days Are Not Here Again
The region’s oil exporters are enjoying a mild reprieve from devastatingly low prices. For now. While the price uptick may have several causes, the most dramatic contributing factor is the Fort McMurray fire in the Canadian province of Alberta. The wildfire covers an area larger than some of the world’s major cities, and officials have estimated it will take weeks or even … [Read more...] about Happy Days Are Not Here Again