Why do governments need to save? In large part, for some of the same reasons people and firms need to save: to invest and help their economies grow and prosper. Public saving may make up less of national saving than household or corporate saving in Latin America and the Caribbean. But it is nonetheless vital to overall economic health. Greater public saving would allow … [Read more...] about Trimming the Fat for Better Growth
Tackling Crime and Pollution Together
Crime represents a major concern for Latin Americans. Increasingly, so does pollution. It is unusual, though, to consider relationships and tradeoffs between them. Yet these are precisely the issues explored by Visiting Scholar Paul Carrillo and his George Washington University colleagues Arun Malik and Andrea López in a recent study for the IDB. The authors took as their case … [Read more...] about Tackling Crime and Pollution Together
Finding the Recipe for Successful Productive Development Policies
Latin America boasts a wealth of creativity and resources. Since the turn of the century, its creative industries—from Argentina to Colombia to Mexico—have been flourishing. However, the region has been getting bad grades in productivity, a key ingredient for development. Its levels of research and development are low. Compared to rich countries, its productivity has been … [Read more...] about Finding the Recipe for Successful Productive Development Policies
Can Women Change Politics?
Hillary Clinton’s June 14th victory in the Washington D.C. Democratic Party primary brings an end to a primary season that will see her coronated as the first woman to lead a major political party in the United States since George Washington assumed the presidency 227 years ago. If she wins —still a big “if”—she will become the first female president of the United States next … [Read more...] about Can Women Change Politics?
Making Saving a State Policy
Over the last three decades, Chile has led the way in promoting greater national savings in Latin America and the Caribbean. Beginning in the early 1980s with a pension reform that introduced mandatory savings through a system managed by the private sector, the country has implemented numerous measures that have boosted its savings rate. Privatizations were carried … [Read more...] about Making Saving a State Policy