The financial crisis started on Wall Street but continues to have a profound impact around the world. Among those affected are the poorest of the poor. In this audio interview, Stanford MBA student Joy Sun talks with Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Earth Institute and a professor at Columbia University, about how the financial crisis is shaping international relations and countries' paths toward economic development.
How have some developing countries managed to overcome poverty? What kinds of economic and political decisions have led to their success? In this audio lecture Michael Spence, Nobel Memorial Prize Winner in Economic Sciences, discusses what the Commission on Growth and Development has learned about the characteristics of nations that have been able to advance economically despite the recent global financial crisis.
Savings could be the doorway to a more inclusive financial system for young people.
By choosing smart economic models and stabilizing political institutions, political leaders pave the way for fast and sustained development.
A report on a talk by Jeffrey Sachs, director of The Earth Institute, professor of Sustainable Development, and professor of Health Policy and Management at Columbia University.
By working closely with the clients and consumers, design thinking allows high-impact solutions to social problems to bubble up from below rather than being imposed from the top.
Fair Trade-certified coffee is growing in sales, but strict certification requirements are resulting in uneven economic advantages for coffee growers and lower quality coffee for consumers.
Despite the hoopla over microfinance, it doesn't cure poverty. But stable jobs do. If societies are serious about helping the poorest of the poor, they should stop investing in microfinance and start supporting large, labor-intensive industries.
Few microfinance institutions articulate what, exactly, their ultimate goals are and how to achieve them. If the goal of microfinance is to alleviate poverty, the authors say, then MFIs should focus on helping their clients build successful enterprises, rather than on making more and bigger loans.
Market solutions to poverty, which include services and products targeting consumers at the “bottom of the pyramid,” portray poor people as creative entrepreneurs and discerning consumers. Yet this rosy view of poverty-stricken people is not only wrong, but also harmful.
