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?
Tearing Families Apart for Remittances: Is It Worth It?
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?
Poverty: The Reality behind the Data
In 2014, for the fourth year in a row, the growth rate of Latin America and the Caribbean, although still positive, has been lower than the year before: a bare 1.2% compared to 2.8% in 2013. The price of non-energy commodities —soybeans, copper, iron, etc.— has fallen 7.5% on average and will do so by at least another 10% in 2015, while the price of oil will fall a total of … [Read more...] about Poverty: The Reality behind the Data
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
Who Decides the Budget?
President Obama presented his $4 trillion budget proposal for FY2016 to Congress on Feb. 2, outlining his spending priorities for the next 10 years. Big winners under his plan include the poor, middle classes, the military and the construction industry, thanks to a combination of tax breaks and credits, as well as infrastructure and defense spending. On the other hand, the … [Read more...] about Who Decides the Budget?