Beyond calories: Benchmarking access to healthy diets for people, planet, and policy
The suite of indicators measuring the Cost and Affordability of a Healthy Diet, known as “CoAHD”, was launched in 2020 and is now an established
Tax incentives for R&D can spur innovation and growth—when done right
As the debate around industrial policy intensifies, there is broad consensus on the rationale for government support to encourage private sector innovation. Economy-wide returns from
Unlocking finance for creative industries
Creative industries, such as film, music, fashion design and advertising are a growing important source of economic activity globally, generating around $2 trillion of revenues
Three barriers to municipal finance—and how to overcome them to create jobs and growth
Cities in low- and middle-income countries are growing fast—but their ability to finance the infrastructure and services needed to support people and jobs is lagging behind. The
The looming global debt disaster
Despite a succession of shocks since 2020, the global economy has held up remarkably well—so far. But the margin for error is dwindling. Total global
The World Bank’s new global poverty lines in 2021 prices
The World Bank has revised its estimates of global poverty to reflect new data on prices and national poverty lines from more than 160 countries
The State of Development Journals 2025: Quality, Acceptance Rates, Review Times, Open Access, and What’s New
This is the ninth in my annual series of efforts to put together data on development economics journals that is not otherwise publicly available or
Global growth concerns to weigh on metal prices
The World Bank’s metals and minerals price index edged up by 3 percent in May, partially recovering from an 8 percent plunge in April that
Most of the developing world is turning into a development-free zone
Only six months ago, a “soft landing” appeared to be in sight: the global economy was stabilizing after an extraordinary string of calamities both natural
A smarter way to grow rice
“Have you had your rice today?” In Viet Nam, this everyday greeting reflects just how central rice is to life—so essential that the day doesn’t
