A CGD blog. The World Bank has a new report out, Industrial Policy for Development, designed not least to be an update and re-evaluation of the 1993 World Bank East Asian Miracle report that confirmed the institution’s broad stance against industrial strategy at that time. The preface of the new version, writt….

A CGD Policy Paper. The model of manufacturing export-led growth followed by a number of countries in East Asia and beyond is becoming ever more complex to emulate. But new pathways to rapid growth for developing countries are emerging. Higher-income countries are seeing rapidly declining working-age populations, creating an increased demand for immigrants. Emigration is…

A CGD blog. Even as the strategy of using manufactured exports to kickstart rapid growth is showing its age, a strategy focused on the movement of people rather than goods is coming into its own. Emigration as a growth strategy could help ensure continued growth and convergence through the twenty-first century….

A CGD Note. This note considers how the G20 could support more rapid growth in low-income countries (LICs)—countries with a GNI per capita below $1,145 (1.5 percent of the US level, or 9 percent of China’s). G20 countries have considerable self-interested as well as humanitarian reasons to focus their attention on lifting LICs out of…

A CGD blog. Low-income countries account for 0.4 percent of the global economy. Such a small, poor market is not attractive to innovators and researchers, and low-income countries cannot afford to support significant research of their own. That combination means that technological challenges specific to poor co…

A CGD blog. The US State Department has collected data on the performance of PEPFAR in 2025, but is yet to officially release it. A Freedom of Information suit is ongoing. In the meantime, some data has become available [link]. And the (potentially draft) headline numbers for 2025 can be compared to 2024: PEPFA…

A CGD blog. As the United States assumes the presidency of the Group of 20 (G20), it has outlined three priorities: unleashing economic prosperity by limiting regulatory burdens, unlocking affordable and secure energy supply chains, and pioneering new technologies and innovations. There is one reform that cuts …

A CGD blog. On a planet that is producing more food per person than ever before, it is a moral stain that so many still suffer malnutrition or face the risk of famine. And, if sustained, the recent collapse in global humanitarian funding from $37 billion in 2024 to $21 billion in 2025 will only…

A paper for the Global (Dis)Order international policy programme of the British Academy and Carnegie Endowment. Globally, we are past ‘peak baby’, and many countries are past peak working-age population. Richer economies are seeing plateauing education rates and rising demand for services. All these factors suggest slower growth in richer countries, combined with fewer export…

A CGD blog. Humanitarian and global health financing is vital to save lives worldwide. But so is humanitarian and global health data. The 2026 aid budget that the US Congress passed provides sufficient resources to help prevent hundreds of thousands of deaths, but effectively targeting those resources will requ…