Education is part of the enabling infrastructure required for jobs, social development, and future economic growth. Unfortunately, low- and middle-income countries face an urgent skills crisis with nearly 70% of children unable to read a simple text by age 10. In response, governments, households, and donors spend more than $5.8 trillion annually on financing education […]
Developing economies today face an investment shortfall of historic proportions. Meeting even the most modest development goals will require a huge investment push—equal to about 5 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP) per year. For low-income countries, the financing gap is about 8 percent of GDP annually. It’s a prohibitive price tag that runs into trillions of […]
Where do jobs come from, and how can we learn more about firms that create them? Governments need to know which firms create employment, how shocks are passed on along supply chains, and how the benefits of trade reach workers. Tracking such information in a comprehensive manner and over an extended period can be challenging. […]
The rapid adoption of AI in the workplace has raised concerns about job loss. This column uses data covering all AI-related commercial software registered with Brazil’s National Institute of Industrial Property to show how AI is affecting the labour market in two distinct ways. In the factory, AI increases employment of low-skilled workers by making […]
Imagine a truckload of fresh mangoes grown by smallholder farmers in Sri Lanka. The fruit is ripe, fragrant, and ready for export. But instead of heading straight to market, it sits at the border waiting for inspections, test results, and paper certifications. Hours turn into days. By the time the mangoes reach their destination, some […]
While tariffs have been the most visible policy tool during the US-China trade war, anecdotal evidence points to the use of Chinese state-owned enterprises as a hidden lever of protectionism. This column presents new systematic evidence showing that state-owned enterprises drove a significant share of the decline in US exports to China in 2018–2019, especially […]
The world is seriously off track to meet global nutrition targets. In fact, in some countries, statistics are moving in the wrong direction. Stunting remains a widespread problem, with nearly 148 million children affected, while at the other end of the spectrum, millions of adults are either struggling with obesity or suffering from non-communicable diseases (NCDs). […]
In 2025, the US government announced a series of tariff increases targeting major trading partners, including Canada, China, and Mexico. This column estimates the economic consequences of these proposed tariffs to the US and globally. According to this model, real wages in the US decline by 1.4% in 2028 and GDP falls by approximately 1%, […]
“How’s your garden?” This was a common question I often heard in Gulu, Uganda. Especially at the start of the country’s two rainy seasons—one beginning in March and the other in September—women frequently exchanged this phrase in markets, hair salons, and even non-profit offices. In Gulu, a garden was not merely an aesthetic feature of […]
As economies develop, it is often assumed that agriculture becomes less relevant a small slice of GDP and a shrinking share of employment. But evidence from Europe and Central Asia tells a different story. Across countries stretching from Portugal to Uzbekistan, agriculture and the broader agrifood sector remain essential pillars of economic development, employment, trade, […]
