Do welfare programs create dependency? For decades, that question has roiled the United States where supporters call such programs an essential lifeline for the poor and critics condemn them as encouraging laziness and the welfare trap. Latin America and the Caribbean is no stranger to the debate, especially as it concerns conditional cash transfer (CCT) programs. Those … [Read more...] about Cash Transfer Programs: Challenging the Welfare Myth
What Can Andre Agassi Teach Us About Socio-Emotional Skills?
When tennis great Andre Agassi flamed out at age 26 dropping from No. 1 in the world to a humiliating No. 141 two years later, commentators attacked his vanity, emotional instability and erratic behavior. Agassi had triumphed in three of tennis's four great tournaments. How could he descend to such lows, where he would deliberately lose an important match, bad-mouth other … [Read more...] about What Can Andre Agassi Teach Us About Socio-Emotional Skills?
Cass Sunstein on Misconceptions, Biases and How Latin America Can Harness Behavioral Economics
Cass Sunstein is a Harvard law professor, a former administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, and one of the most prolific and admired legal scholars in the United States. He is also a leading light in the field of behavioral economics whose 2008 pioneering book Nudge, co-written with Nobel Prize laureate Richard Thaler, describes the many … [Read more...] about Cass Sunstein on Misconceptions, Biases and How Latin America Can Harness Behavioral Economics
Behavioral Interventions on One Tax Can Boost Compliance Across the Board
Can interventions from behavioral economics get people to pay their taxes? It is a question of the greatest urgency in Latin America and the Caribbean where evasion of personal and corporate income taxes reaches as high as 50% in many countries, with significant impact on their scope of options. The short answer is that behavioral interventions can be crucial. As has been … [Read more...] about Behavioral Interventions on One Tax Can Boost Compliance Across the Board
Unique Opportunity to Delve into Macroeconomics at Columbia University
Around 11 years ago, two leading economists who had been collaborating for years surveyed the current state of continuing education in economics and saw a large gap. There were lots of programs providing formal education. But there were virtually none offering mid-career professionals the latest tools for dealing with financial issues in emerging markets in a compact format. … [Read more...] about Unique Opportunity to Delve into Macroeconomics at Columbia University