Boosting skills is essential for entering the ranks of the richest nations. Better education and skills, most economists agree, generate the innovation and productivity that lift countries from middle-income to high-income levels such as those enjoyed by the United States and the wealthiest nations in Europe and Asia. Indeed, along with rule of law and well-functioning markets, … [Read more...] about What Do Voters Want: Help or Skills?
#education
Mexico: The Elusive Quest for Prosperity
Imagine a country that does everything that development economics says is right: guarantee macroeconomic stability, maintain an open trade regime and invest in physical capital and education. Now imagine, that this this country suffers anemic growth and has done so for over two decades. What in the world could be wrong? This is the agonizing question facing Mexico and the … [Read more...] about Mexico: The Elusive Quest for Prosperity
When Poverty Is No Obstacle to Educational Success
Villa Esperanza, is a shantytown of unpaved streets and low-slung tin-roofed house, a place where the prospects for children would seem grim. Most adults in the town outside Lima work selling goods on the street or in other low-paying jobs. Many are illiterate, and the social problems, ranging from gangs to high levels of alcoholism, disease and domestic violence, might snuff … [Read more...] about When Poverty Is No Obstacle to Educational Success
Financial Literacy Programs Can Benefit Both Children and Adults
To become an adult without knowing how to manage money is to risk financial instability, debt, and a meager retirement. Moreover, most evidence suggests it is extremely difficult to change the financial behavior of adults. They may not have time for financial literacy programs and, besides, may be too set in their ways. On the other hand, working with children and teenagers … [Read more...] about Financial Literacy Programs Can Benefit Both Children and Adults
Boosting Growth in Latin America and the Caribbean
Growth in Latin America and the Caribbean has been disappointing. For commodity exporters, the exceptional 2002-2012 boom boosted investment and relaxed fiscal constraints, but many countries made little progress on improving underlying productivity and their medium-term growth potential. In other countries, particularly some in the Caribbean and Central America, negative … [Read more...] about Boosting Growth in Latin America and the Caribbean