A CGD blog. We have rolled around once again to the time of year when climate negotiators stare hungrily at the balance sheets of banks and institutional investors and demand trillions in investment at the COP, while international financial institutions promise to help mobilize that investment at the IMF/World …

A CGD blog. Former White House National Economic Council Director and CGD Board Member Brian Deese has proposed the US launch a Clean Energy Marshall Plan to support zero-carbon infrastructure rollout in developing countries. The idea has attracted significant attention and commentary, some of which has noted t…

A CGD blog with Clemence Landers. If Banga’s $100 billion total replenishment target is met by making IDA more expensive, the champagne should remain corked. Far better for the World Bank’s president to declare that donors have failed the institution and the world’s poorest countries than to try to engineer a trainwreck to look like…

A CGD blog. Nobody doubts China is a world power. But it is still underpowered at a number of global institutions. China could make progress in fixing that problem at the World Bank by increasing its contribution to IDA, the Bank’s soft lending arm for the world’s poorest countries, in the ongoing replenishment…

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…