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ISTANBUL — The United States invaded Afghanistan 20 years ago with the hope of rebuilding a country that had become a scourge to the world and its own people. As General Stanley McChrystal explained in the run-up to the 2009 surge of US troops, the objective was that the “government of Afghanistan sufficiently control its territory to support regional stability and prevent its
CAMBRIDGE — ExxonMobil recently announced a five-year plan to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and is pumping out ads proclaiming its commitment to a green future. Tobacco giant Philip Morris is touting its plans to help smokers quit. Facebook is calling for new Internet regulations. And these moves come less than two years after the Business Roundtable, representing the CEOs
Bitcoin is typically thought of as an investment and a strictly financial innovation. But what if some of its greatest impact over time ends up being in the humanitarian and environmental spaces? This essay will explore some of the major challenges in the realm of international development and will argue that donors should be looking at Bitcoin payments and mining as tools to reduce corruption, diminish dependency and help renewable energy overcome adoption obstacles worldwide. In his searing 2010 essay “Alms Dealers,” Philip Gourevitch tells the history of aid. The industry, he wrote, wa...
AT A GLANCE “Why Nations Fail” author discusses the connection between inclusive institutions and economic growth, and why COVID-19 could have long-term effects on state-society relations ·MIT Economics Professor Daron Acemoglu is awarded the 2020 CME Group-MSRI Prize Daron Acemoglu’s youth in Turkey produced early lessons on the inextricable link between economics and politics. In September 1980, Acemoglu was living in Istanbul and had just turned 13 when the Turkish military launched a coup that overthrew the civilian government. Scenes of soldiers in the streets and a general climat...
May 1, 2021 BOSTON – U.S. President Joe Biden’s spending plans have been grabbing headlines, and rightly so. The administration’s relief package and infrastructure plan could remake the U.S. welfare state by bolstering the social safety net and increasing spending on transportation, broadband, and education. But with U.S. government spending likely to remain high after the COVID-19 pandemic, tax revenues must increase, because additional borrowing can finance only so much. Hence, the Biden administration has proposed the equally sweeping Made in America Tax Plan, which would in...