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Curated by Project Syndicate

Is Sustainable Development Being Achieved?

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The Sustainable Development Goals are now two years old.  Is the UN community keeping its word to the world’s poorest people?  Are too many nations backsliding into the old game of relying on others to do the heavy lifting in enacting the SDGs? 

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  1. Counting What Counts in Development
    Sudan: young Dinka girl Christophe Calais/Getty Images

    Counting What Counts in Development

    Sep 14, 2017 Selim Jahan says the best way to improve human development outcomes is to change how we measure quality of life.

  2. Data-Driven Gender Equality
    Somalia daily life Mohamed Abdiwahab/Getty Images

    Data-Driven Gender Equality

    Sep 13, 2017 Mark Suzman says that achieving the UN’s development goals for women and girls must start with better metrics.

  3. How to Achieve the SDGs
    Venezuela-Colombia migration Luis Acosta/Getty Images

    How to Achieve the SDGs

    Aug 29, 2017 Mahmoud Mohieldin advocates a bottom-up approach to achieving global development goals, citing Colombia as an example.

  4. A Scientific Method for the SDGs
    fishermen Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

    A Scientific Method for the SDGs

    Jun 6, 2017 Anne-Sophie Stevance & David McCollum describe a new analytical framework for prioritizing development goals and investments.

  5. The Private Sector and the SDGs
    Woman sustainable farming Bangladesh Barcroft Media

    The Private Sector and the SDGs

    Feb 6, 2017 Mahmoud Mohieldin & Svetlana Klimenko describe how to mobilize financial markets to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

  6. Investment for Sustainable Growth
    sachs266_Westend61_Getty Images_infrastructure Westend61/Getty Images

    Investment for Sustainable Growth

    Oct 31, 2016 Jeffrey D. Sachs describes the types of long-term investments the world economy needs – and how to finance them.

  1. haldar21_Getty Images Getty Images

    Revisiting the Behavioral Revolution in Economics

    Antara Haldar assesses the legacy of the intellectual challenge to the view that rational self-interest guides our actions.
  2. varoufakis104_Andrew LichtensteinCorbis via Getty Images_amazonunion Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images

    New AI Germ Busters Can Also Bust Unions

    Yanis Varoufakis shows how an AI-driven biomedical breakthrough could rob workers of what little power they have left.
  3. james206_anilakkusGetty Images_globalization anilakkus/Getty Images

    Globalization’s Warring Narratives

    Harold James examines the analytical disagreements that are hampering management of an unavoidable phenomenon.
  4. op_nagymohacsi2_Namthip MuanthongthaeGetty Images_CBDC Namthip Muanthongthae/Getty Images

    The Digital Economy’s New Monetary Imperative

    Piroska Nagy Mohácsi

    In a rapidly digitalizing world, central banks are staring down a future in which they may lack the tools necessary to manage crises, and in which they may no longer be able to protect their monetary sovereignty. They should recognize that digital currency is a source of institutional salvation.

    thinks governments must embrace central bank digital currencies or risk a fundamental loss of control.
  5. pisaniferry145_ Thierry MonasseGetty Images_eu green deal Thierry Monasse/Getty Images

    Europe’s Climate Quandary

    Jean Pisani-Ferry assesses the inevitable trade-offs the European Union must confront in achieving its clean-energy targets.
  6. basu92_Win McNameeGetty Images_samaltmanopenaisenate Win McNamee/Getty Images

    Governing the Unknown

    Kaushik Basu suggests a few principles to guide policymakers as they try to keep up with rapidly advancing technologies.
  7. oyebanji2_ PIUS UTOMI EKPEIAFP via Getty Images_lassa fever PIUS UTOMI EKPEI/AFP via Getty Images

    Fast-Tracking a Lassa Fever Vaccine

    Oyeronke Oyebanji outlines what West African governments can learn from the development and distribution of the COVID-19 jab.
  8. schleussner1_David McNewGetty Images_heatwave David McNew/Getty Images

    Climate Science Beats Climate Fatalism

    Carl-Friedrich Schleussner, et al. show that the more ambitious 1.5º target for global warming is still feasible – and more necessary than ever.
  9. benami202_Burak KaraGetty Images_erdogan Burak Kara/Getty Images

    Turkey’s Pragmatic Islamist

    Shlomo Ben-Ami expects Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s latest electoral victory to have little impact on Turkish foreign policy.

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