Over the last two decades, Latin America and the Caribbean has made huge efforts to improve education. Investment in the sector has grown from 3.6% to 5.3% of GDP; the percentage of adolescents who finish primary school has reached well over 90%, and results on PISA, the international exam that measures core competencies in mathematics, language and science, have improved … [Read more...] about To Boost Education, Latin America Needs to Spend More Efficiently
Social Issues
What Behavioral Economics Can Do for the G20
If you are reading this blog, you are most likely a person with limited rationality. If you doubt that, ask yourself, if you have ever over-snoozed your morning alarm or eaten beyond your point of hunger? Humans, as it turns out, often fail to act in their best self-interest. We fail to follow through on intended goals and undervalue, or discount, the importance of the future. … [Read more...] about What Behavioral Economics Can Do for the G20
Behavioral Economics: Making Our Roads Safer
While plane crashes get the most media attention, we are much more likely to be injured in or by a car. And, in Latin America, the cost is very high. During 2017, car accidents claimed an average of 12 people per 100,000 inhabitants, five times the rate in Norway, more than double the rate in France, and even higher than that in the United States where road safety has been a … [Read more...] about Behavioral Economics: Making Our Roads Safer
Tackling Soaring Drug Prices in Latin America and the Caribbean
Faced with soaring drug prices, officials in the United States are taking on the pharmaceutical companies, desperate to stop the hemorrhage of up to thousands of dollars a month in family income towards prescription drugs. Individual states in just the last year have passed 37 drug laws, conscious that current trends are unsustainable. But the United States is not alone in … [Read more...] about Tackling Soaring Drug Prices in Latin America and the Caribbean
Boosting Efficiency En Route to Universal Health Coverage
Latin America and the Caribbean has made real progress in expanding health services to its citizens over the last two decades, boosting spending, increasing overall life expectancy and contributing to a decline in mortality rates for children under five. But despite those improvements, the region needs to become more efficient to achieve its goal of universal health coverage in … [Read more...] about Boosting Efficiency En Route to Universal Health Coverage