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611. Moving Toward Smarter Aid

Publication Date:
08-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) is seriously wounded. Unveiled by President Bush in March 2002 as a promising new bilateral aid instrument for tackling global poverty, the most prominent sign of the MCC's distress was the mid-summer resignation of Paul Applegarth, its first CEO. More disturbing are the cuts imposed by the Congressional committees marking up next year's budget. The MCC's original concept was to award $5 billion annually to low-income countries based on objective criteria measuring their performance in ruling justly, investing in people, and promoting economic freedom. Appropriations for the MCC in its third year of funding, however, appear to be stuck below $2 billion. Criticism of the MCC for getting off to a slow start misses the point. Creating a new agency takes time and the original concept remains valid. To enable the MCC to live up to its potential, its newly nominated CEO will have to sell the MCC vision to a skeptical Congress and gain the flexibility required to avoid drifting toward "more of the same."
Topic:
International Relations, Debt, Economics, and Poverty

612. Insuring America's Workers in a New Era of Offshoring

Author:
Robert E. Litan, Nicholas Warren, and Lael Brainard
Publication Date:
07-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
With a new wave of white-collar offshoring coming fast on the heels of accelerated job losses in manufacturing, an ever-broader pool of American workers is finding that the nation's safety net has more holes than netting. The nation can and must do more to help insure the livelihoods of American workers in the face of structural shifts of whatever form, while preserving the benefits of an open and innovative economy. With technological change and offshoring accelerating job turnover and the pace at which workers' job-specific skills lose value, the time has come for the federal government to strengthen the existing safety net.
Topic:
Economics, Government, Human Welfare, and Poverty
Political Geography:
America

613. Why Did the Poorest Countries Fail to Catch Up?

Author:
Branko Milanovic
Publication Date:
10-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:
DURING THE PAST TWENTY YEARS, THE POOREST COUNTRIES of the world have fallen further behind the middle-income and rich countries. The median per capita growth of the poorest countries was zero. This is an unexpected outcome because, from the perspective of economic theory, both globalization and economic-policy convergence imply that poor countries should grow faster than the rich. The main reasons why this has not happened lie in poor countries' much greater likelihood of being involved in wars and civil conflicts. This factor alone accounts for an income loss of about 40 percent over twenty years. Slower reforms in poor countries compared with faster reforms in middle-income countries played some, albeit a minimal, role. Increased flows from multilateral lenders did not help either because the net effect of the flows on growth rates is estimated to have been zero. Finally, neither democratization nor better educational attainment of the population can be shown to have had any notable positive impact on poor countries' growth. Reducing the prevalence of conflict seems to be the first and most important step toward restoring growth.
Topic:
Development, Economics, Globalization, Poverty, and Third World

614. Angola - Drivers of Change: An Overview

Author:
Alex Vines, Nicholas Shaxson, and Lisa Rimli
Publication Date:
05-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Chatham House
Abstract:
Angola has undergone dramatic economic and political changes since independence from Portugal in 1975, and continues to face severe challenges three decades later. An open democratic process has not yet been established, the economy faces deep-rooted structural imbalances, and the country's international relations have undergone many shifts and changes, so that it is currently again in a major transitional era.
Topic:
Civil Society, Democratization, Development, Government, and Poverty
Political Geography:
Africa

615. Challenges in Competitiveness: Infrastructure Development

Author:
Raul Rodriguez
Publication Date:
01-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Wilson Center
Abstract:
Cross-border cooperation between the U.S. and Mexico in infrastructure development has been the topic of a vast number of conferences, discussion groups and reports for quite some time. But actual cooperation pales in comparison to the dramatic strides achieved in economic and business links between both countries.
Topic:
International Relations, Economics, Poverty, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
United States and Mexico

616. Development Aid and Economic Freedom: Are They Related?

Author:
Benjamin Powell and Matt Ryan
Publication Date:
05-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Independent Institute
Abstract:
For more than 50 years individual countries and international agencies have given aid to third world countries to promote economic development, yet poverty still persists in many recipient nations. In recent years development economists and agencies have increasingly recognized the importance of institutions that support property rights and economic freedom in promoting development. Nevertheless, nations continue to provide aid to less developed countries. This raises two important questions. Does the receipt of aid lead to increases or decreases in economic freedom, and are increases in economic freedom rewarded with more aid or punished with reduced aid?
Topic:
Development, Economics, Government, and Poverty

617. Combating Poverty and Exclusion through Work

Publication Date:
03-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Abstract:
All OECD governments attach importance to combating poverty and exclusion, and for good reason. Poverty and exclusion are evidence of a society that wastes human resources, opportunities and life-chances, both now and for the future. Failure to tackle the poverty and exclusion facing millions of families and their children is not only socially reprehensible, but will also weigh heavily on countries' capacity to sustain economic growth in years to come.
Topic:
Economics, Government, Human Welfare, and Poverty

618. A Marshall Plan For Energy And Water Supply In Developing Countries

Author:
Richard L. Lawson, John R. Lyman, and Donald L. Guertin
Publication Date:
03-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Atlantic Council
Abstract:
Today, hunger, poverty, and desperation remain prevalent throughout much of the developing world. If we are to live in a 21st century more prone to peace than violence, the developed countries must move expeditiously to address the developing countries' energy and water problems. The availability, accessibility and affordability of energy and water are vital to the economic development that is required to alleviate global poverty and to address environmental degradation.
Topic:
Development, Energy Policy, Environment, and Poverty

619. The East Asian Experience: The Poverty of "Picking Winners"

Author:
Barry Desker and Deborah Elms
Publication Date:
12-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies
Abstract:
Many leaders in Africa argue that East Asia's success in economic growth and development is due to special prowess in "picking winners." That is, the state is assume to have adequately identified future growth areas and effectively channeled investments into specific firms or industries. We argue, however, that this assessment is not accurate. Even where states have attempted to follow this path, they have frequently made a hash of it. The wrong sectors or firms have been identified. Public monies have been squandered or siphoned off for private enrichment. Instead, the successful East Asian states have focused their attention on consistently creating competitive market environments. They have invested in the hard and soft infrastructure (like road, ports and education) necessary for success in an increasingly globalized economy. It is these types of policies that currently hold out the greatest prospects for growth in Africa.
Topic:
Economics and Poverty
Political Geography:
Africa, Israel, and East Asia

620. The Poverty Macroeconomic Policy Nexus: Some Short-run Analytics

Author:
George Mavrotas and S. Mansoob Murshed
Publication Date:
12-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
The present paper utilises a short-run theoretical macroeconomic model of a small open economy to look at the impact of macroeconomic policies and financial deepening upon poverty through sectoral changes. This is because an expansion in certain sectors may cause greater poverty reduction. The model involves a non-traded and a traded sector on the formal side of the economy. The former is more capital intensive and the latter more unskilled labour intensive. Increased employment in the traded sector is more pro-poor compared to a similar rise in the non-traded sector as the former draws workers out of poverty in the informal sector. The model in our paper analyses short-run effects of devaluation, a rise in the money supply induced by financial deepening, and taxation to discourage non-traded goods consumption. Financial deepening can induce greater output and reduce poverty. Other results are mixed and taxonomic. We also attempt to differentiate between the stylised experiences of East Asia and Latin America. East Asian economies have relied more heavily on labour-intensive manufactured exports, whereas Latin America has had a relatively greater share of capital intensive and natural resource based exports. In recent decades countries in these two regions have had differing experiences in poverty reduction, with poverty arguably declining more in East Asia.
Topic:
International Relations, Development, Economics, and Poverty
Political Geography:
East Asia and Latin America