In his budget initiative to Congress for FY2016, U.S. President Barack Obama included a request of $15.297 billion to tighten border security and migration policy. In addition, he proposed including in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) budget a $1 billion allocation to support security, governance, and economic development programs for El Salvador, Guatemala, and … [Read more...] about Tearing Families Apart for Remittances: Is It Worth It?
Social Issues
Vaccination: Infectious Misinformation
Public information campaigns are a complex undertaking; how the message is delivered matters at least as much as the content of the message itself. Moreover, getting it right is paramount since undoing the damage of misinformation is difficult indeed. In this regard, the debate over vaccination provides a difficult lesson—one in which the repercussions of poor messaging are, … [Read more...] about Vaccination: Infectious Misinformation
How to Keep Kids in School
By Marina Bassi and Matias Busso Each year tens of thousands of young Latin Americans drop out of school to take low-skilled jobs. The low-level of graduation, with less than 50% of 24-year-olds having completed secondary school, is not only a stumbling block for individuals destined to lives of menial labor. It is a drag on the region's ability to innovate, generate … [Read more...] about How to Keep Kids in School