Since its founding in 2004, Facebook has boasted of its mission to "make the world more open and connected." And with nearly 2 billion users, including more than 230 million in Latin America, it has in many ways earned boasting rights. Facebook is today the world's dominant social media site for people sharing personal and political news, interests and passions. It unites … [Read more...] about Moving Out of the Social Media Bubble to a More Robust Democracy
Social Issues
Falling Inequality: A Brazilian Whodunnit
By Julián Messina, Francisco H.G. Ferreira and Sergio Firpo Long one of the world’s most unequal countries, Brazil surprised pundits by recording a massive reduction in household income inequality in the last couple of decades. Between 1995 and 2012, the country’s Gini coefficient for household incomes fell by seven points, from 0.59 to 0.52. (For comparison, all of the … [Read more...] about Falling Inequality: A Brazilian Whodunnit
Can Latin American Workers Dodge the Deaths of Despair?
For much of the last century, mortality rates in the United States fell steadily. But from 1998-2013, that trend reversed for a special demographic: non-Hispanic whites, aged 45-54. The problem, according to a new study by Nobel Laureate Angus Deaton, and fellow economist, Anne Case, lay in people lacking a college degree. Tens of thousands of those middle-aged whites were … [Read more...] about Can Latin American Workers Dodge the Deaths of Despair?
Rethinking Taxation to Protect Savings
Taxation and savings are inextricably linked. While taxation puts more money in the government’s hands, it also decreases private savings by leaving people and firms with less income to save, invest, and grow the economy. Despite this clear relationship, the negative impact of taxation on private savings is often the blind spot when policymakers tackle tax reform in Latin … [Read more...] about Rethinking Taxation to Protect Savings
Research Opportunity: Call for Visiting Scholars Program
The IDB’s Research Department invites promising young researchers (post-doctorate level) and recognized accredited Scholars to apply for the Visiting Research Scholars Program on Citizen Security and Justice issues. The program addresses the growing demand for expertise to design public policies to prevent and reduce urban crime in Latin America and the Caribbean, and to … [Read more...] about Research Opportunity: Call for Visiting Scholars Program