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Curated by Project Syndicate

The Future of Human Development

11 commentaries

It’s been 25 years since the first UNDP Human Development Report affirmed that income growth alone does not improve human wellbeing. How can the human-development approach be used to help policymakers tackle today's complex global challenges?

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  1. From War to Work
    fstewart1_Emmanuel Dunand_Getty Images_War to Work Emmanuel Dunand/ Getty Images

    From War to Work

    Jun 9, 2016 Frances Stewart debunks the conventional wisdom that job creation prevents violent conflict.

  2. Living Free and Equal
    Latin America Mario Tama/Getty Images

    Living Free and Equal

    Apr 5, 2016 Rebeca Grynspan calls for redistributive policies to enable countries to reduce poverty and inequality.

  3. Learning Without Theory
    people walking Getty Images

    Learning Without Theory

    Mar 30, 2016 Ricardo Hausmann says that when it comes to economic growth and development, we should not confuse "what" and "how."

  4. From Child Slavery to Freedom
    Children in India Schoolchildren in India/Pixabay

    From Child Slavery to Freedom

    Jan 21, 2016 Kailash Satyarthi explains why 5.5 million kids remain in servitude – and what must be done to end the practice.

  5. Education in an Uncertain World
    Schoolchildren at a computer terminal

    Education in an Uncertain World

    Dec 16, 2015 Andreas Schleicher considers the skills that today's graduates need to cope with rapid technological change.

  6. The Evolution of Work
    Industrial tools

    The Evolution of Work

    Dec 9, 2015 Dani Rodrik explains why the outlook is mixed for labor in developing countries.

Our Pick

Featured

  1. rajan82_BRENDAN SMIALOWSKIPOOLAFP via Getty Images_jeromepowell Brendan Smialowski/Pool/AFP via Getty Images
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    The Fed’s Role in the Bank Failures

    Raghuram G. Rajan & Viral V. Acharya

    There are four reasons to worry that the latest banking crisis could be systemic. For many years, periodic bouts of quantitative easing have expanded bank balance sheets and stuffed them with more uninsured deposits, making the banks increasingly vulnerable to changes in monetary policy and financial conditions.

     show how the US central bank's liquidity policies created the conditions for runs on uninsured deposits.
  2. velasco135_Nancy LaneMediaNews GroupBoston Herald via Getty Images_bank run Nancy Lane/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images
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    Policymakers Keep Solving the Wrong Banking Problem

    Andrés Velasco

    When a bank fails, the first response by policymakers and the public is to blame risk-loving speculators, greedy investors, or regulators asleep at the wheel. But quenching our thirst for moral adjudication is a poor basis for policy, because the truth is both simpler and more troubling.

     argues that recent market turmoil has revealed that the sector’s main vulnerability is unavoidable.
  3. ito25_Chip SomodevillaGetty Images_yellen Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
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    An Insolvency Iceberg?

    Takatoshi Ito considers the risk that other banks will experience liquidity problems as interest rates continue to rise.
  4. skidelsky185_Wiktor SzymanowiczAnadolu Agency via Getty Images_jeremyhunt Wiktor Szymanowicz/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
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    Can Governments Still Steer the Economy?

    Robert Skidelsky explains why international finance and geopolitics make it harder to influence major performance indicators.
  5. sinn109_ DANIEL ROLANDAFP via Getty Images_financial crisis DANIEL ROLAND/AFP via Getty Images
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    Accounting for Casino Capitalism

    Hans-Werner Sinn draws parallels between recent bank collapses and the late-nineteenth-century “founders’ crash.”
  6. zadek25_ FABRICE COFFRINIAFP via Getty Images_creditsuisseUBS Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images
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    Who Should Be Bailed Out Next?

    Simon Zadek urges rich-country governments to aid debt-distressed poor countries as urgently as they have their failing banks.
  7. callegari1_Getty Images_crowd population Getty Images
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    The Population Boon

    Beniamino Callegari & Per Espen Stoknes correct popular myths about the threat of demographic growth to sustainable development.
  8. songwe8_NIPAH DENNISAFP via Getty Images_ghana NIPAH DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images
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    Where Is the Global South’s Rescue Brigade?

    Vera Songwe decries the unequal responses to liquidity crises in Silicon Valley compared to the developing world.
  9. slaughter96_melitasGetty Images_cooperative melitas/Getty Images
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    Beyond Industrial Policy

    Anne-Marie Slaughter & Elizabeth Garlow make the case for an economic strategy that prioritizes shared prosperity over competition.

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