A CGD blog. Over the past three years, I have been pushing an idea developed with Scott Morris of a climate-dedicated capital increase at the World Bank Group as likely the most plausible and efficient route to generate the levels of global financing required to speed climate mitigation efforts in developing co…

A CGD blog with Scott Morris. As Asia and the Pacific transitions from demographic dividends to deficits, policies focusing on labor mobility and regional cooperation are essential. Investing in human capital and flexible migration policies can address workforce imbalances, ensuring continued economic growth and stability across…

A CGD blog. The work of USAID in Ukraine is also a sign of what foreign aid can accomplish when it uses the right tools to deliver. It is time that far more overseas assistance was allocated through recipient governments rather than Beltway contractors.

A CGD blog. The gap between parties on international economic policy is often smaller than the gap between consensus positions over time. While the Biden Administration has introduced migrant-supporting measures including relief for the undocumented spouses of citizens and community sponsorship of refugees, bot…

A CGD blog. Compared to efforts to agree to an overall carbon pricing mechanism or to binding targets on emissions, sectoral approaches to global binding agreements around greenhouse gasses have made considerably more progress. The Montreal Protocol and a series of follow-on agreements have considerably reduced…

A CGD blog. Reuters reports today that the US Defense Department spread anti-vaccine messaging across Southeast Asia during COVID as part of an effort to discredit Chinese-manufactured vaccines. At a minimum, the Administration should amend EO 12333 to mandate that no US intelligence or psychological warfare op…

A CGD blog. It is time for an update to the $100 billion climate finance goal that was agreed to in 2009 as part of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change process. In April, Cartagena hosted the first meeting under the ad hoc work programme on the new collective quantified goal on climate…

A CGD blog. Richer aging countries need educated young workers to provide the services and entrepreneurial talent to sustain their quality of life. A growing population of young, increasingly educated people in poorer countries, and especially in Africa, need good jobs and greater opportunities. More trade in s…

A CGD blog. The ongoing global demographic transition is massive in scale and likely impact. For most of the past 200 years, the vast majority of the world’s countries have seen population growth, particularly working-age population growth. As they’ve gone through the “demographic transition” toward lower birth…

A CGD blog. On Thursday, I delivered testimony before the House Oversight and Accountability Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs at a hearing titled “Accountable Assistance: Reviewing Controls to Prevent Mismanagement of Foreign Aid.” I argued that the financial flow of assistanc….