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Curated by Project Syndicate

Education: The Brain Gain

155 commentaries

Education does not benefit only its recipients; it has a profound impact on national economic outcomes. Poor educational performance may be a determining factor in the inability of Latin American countries to rise from middle- to high-income status over the last 50 years. Likewise, education could explain why Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan attained high-income status, while countries like Thailand, the Philippines, and Malaysia cannot complete the middle-income transition. Policymakers, economists, educators, and business leaders debate and advance innovative ideas about educational practice and policy.

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  1. Reviving Hope for the Humanities
    alpert2_Gustavo ValienteEuropa Press via Getty Images_university Gustavo Valiente/Europa Press via Getty Images

    Reviving Hope for the Humanities

    Apr 4, 2023 Avram Alpert urge university instructors to stop neglecting what students have shown they want and need.

  2. The Republicans’ Critical Race War
    hansen2_ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDSAFP via Getty Images_criticalracetheory Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

    The Republicans’ Critical Race War

    Mar 7, 2023 John Mark Hansen shows that US conservatives are enacting, as an electoral strategy, the very theory they have been vilifying.

  3. Ron DeSantis’s Intellectual Apartheid
    haldar18_ Cheryl Senter for the Washington Post_desantis Cheryl Senter for the Washington Post

    Ron DeSantis’s Intellectual Apartheid

    Feb 27, 2023 Antara Haldar considers what is at stake in the American right’s new education-focused culture war.

  4. The Moral Imperative of Refugee Education
    grandi7_ Maja HitijGetty Images_ukraine refugee Maja Hitij/Getty Images

    The Moral Imperative of Refugee Education

    Feb 14, 2023 Filippo Grandi emphasizes the need and cost-effectiveness of providing displaced young people with the tools to thrive.

  5. The New Front Line of the Education Crisis
    brown94_AKRAM SHAHIDAFP via Getty Images_school AKRAM SHAHID/AFP via Getty Images

    The New Front Line of the Education Crisis

    Feb 13, 2023 Gordon Brown calls attention to the growing links between climate change, forced displacement, and learning loss.

  6. Preserving a Palestinian Refuge
    lazzarini1_MOHAMMED ABEDAFP via Getty Images_unrwa digitalization MOHAMMED ABED/AFP via Getty Images

    Preserving a Palestinian Refuge

    Feb 10, 2023 Philippe Lazzarini calls for adequate, sustained funding to support UNRWA schools in the West Bank and Gaza, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria.

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. sierakowski98_Jaap ArriensNurPhoto via Getty Images_donaldtusk Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images

    Poland's Electoral Inquisition

    Sławomir Sierakowski decries a new law designed to disqualify opposition candidates from running in this year's general election.
  7. stiglitz318_Drew AngererGetty Images_ira Drew Angerer/Getty Images

    Western Industrial Policy and International Law

    Joseph E. Stiglitz

    With recent landmark legislation to support decarbonization and innovation, the United States is making up for lost time after its failed 40-year experiment with neoliberalism. But if it is serious about embracing a new paradigm, it will need to do more to help bring the rest of the world along.

    explains how to minimize the political risks of new spending packages in the US and Europe.
  8. mohan4_STEFANI REYNOLDSAFP via Getty Images_imf STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images

    The IMF’s Turn to Lead on Climate

    Rakesh Mohan, et al. explain how the International Monetary Fund can best support green investment where it is needed the most.
  9. nye_Joe RaedleGetty Images_trump Joe Raedle/Getty Images

    If Trump Returns

    Joseph S. Nye, Jr.

    What would a second Donald Trump presidency mean for US foreign policy and the world? While the man himself is unpredictable, his first term and his behavior since losing re-election in 2020 offer plenty of clues, none of which will be comforting to America's allies.

    considers the implications of the 2024 presidential election for America's foreign policy and global standing.

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