id COVID-19 trends from Germany show different impacts by gender and age By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Fri, 01 May 2020 15:41:03 +0000 The world is in the midst of a global pandemic and all countries have been impacted significantly. In Europe, the most successful policy response to the pandemic has been by Germany, as measured by the decline in new COVID-19 cases in recent weeks and consistent increase in recovered’ cases. This is also reflected in the… Full Article
id How to increase financial support during COVID-19 by investing in worker training By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Wed, 06 May 2020 17:46:07 +0000 It took just two weeks to exhaust one of the largest bailout packages in American history. Even the most generous financial support has limits in a recession. However, I am optimistic that a pandemic-fueled recession and mass underemployment could be an important opportunity to upskill the American workforce through loans for vocational training. Financially supporting… Full Article
id And then there were ten: With 85% turnover across President Trump’s A Team, who remains? By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Mon, 13 Apr 2020 15:39:50 +0000 Having tracked turnover for five presidents and closely following the churn in the Trump White House, it is clear that what is currently going on is far from normal. Less than a month after President Trump’s inauguration, National Security Advisor Michael Flynn was forced to resign, and this high-level departure marked the beginning of an… Full Article
id Americans give President Trump poor ratings in handling COVID-19 crisis By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Fri, 17 Apr 2020 20:32:46 +0000 Since its peak in late March, public approval of President Trump’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic has slowly but steadily declined. Why is this happening? Will his new guidelines to the states for reopening the country’s turn it around? What will be the impact of his latest tweets, which call on his supporters to “liberate”… Full Article
id Webinar: How federal job vacancies hinder the government’s response to COVID-19 By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Mon, 20 Apr 2020 20:52:41 +0000 Vacant positions and high turnover across the federal bureaucracy have been a perpetual problem since President Trump was sworn into office. Upper-level Trump administration officials (“the A Team”) have experienced a turnover rate of 85 percent — much higher than any other administration in the past 40 years. The struggle to recruit and retain qualified… Full Article
id Get rid of the White House Coronavirus Task Force before it kills again By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Thu, 07 May 2020 14:21:30 +0000 As news began to leak out that the White House was thinking about winding down the coronavirus task force, it was greeted with some consternation. After all, we are still in the midst of a pandemic—we need the president’s leadership, don’t we? And then, in an abrupt turnaround, President Trump reversed himself and stated that… Full Article
id How instability and high turnover on the Trump staff hindered the response to COVID-19 By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Thu, 07 May 2020 18:04:06 +0000 On Jan. 14, 2017, the Obama White House hosted 30 incoming staff members of the Trump team for a role-playing scenario. A readout of the event said, “The exercise provided a high-level perspective on a series of challenges that the next administration may face and introduced the key authorities, policies, capabilities, and structures that are… Full Article
id In the Republican Party establishment, Trump finds tepid support By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Fri, 08 May 2020 18:37:25 +0000 For the past three years the Republican Party leadership have stood by the president through thick and thin. Previous harsh critics and opponents in the race for the Republican nomination like Senator Lindsey Graham and Senator Ted Cruz fell in line, declining to say anything negative about the president even while, at times, taking action… Full Article
id Black Carbon and Kerosene Lighting: An Opportunity for Rapid Action on Climate Change and Clean Energy for Development By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Tue, 16 Apr 2013 14:09:00 -0400 SUMMARY Replacing inefficient kerosene lighting with electric lighting or other clean alternatives can rapidly achieve development and energy access goals, save money and reduce climate warming. Many of the 250 million households that lack reliable access to electricity rely on inefficient and dangerous simple wick lamps and other kerosene-fueled light sources, using 4 to 25 billion liters of kerosene annually to meet basic lighting needs. Kerosene costs can be a significant household expense and subsidies are expensive. New information on kerosene lamp emissions reveals that their climate impacts are substantial. Eliminating current annual black carbon emissions would provide a climate benefit equivalent to 5 gigatons of carbon dioxide reductions over the next 20 years. Robust and low-cost technologies for supplanting simple wick and other kerosene-fueled lamps exist and are easily distributed and scalable. Improving household lighting offers a low-cost opportunity to improve development, cool the climate and reduce costs. Download the full paper » Downloads Download the full paper Authors Arne JacobsonNicholas L. LamTami C. BondNathan Hultman Full Article
id Development Aid and Procurement: The Case for Reform By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Fri, 13 Dec 2013 15:35:00 -0500 INTRODUCTION If you are one of those government officials, finance experts, development professionals or NGO members whose eyes glaze over when you see an article on procurement, you are the audience I want to address. Procurement is the purchase of works, goods and services by individuals or firms, or government entities in the case of public procurement. We all make procurement decisions in our everyday lives. We pride ourselves on making good decisions and being able to apply discretion and judgment. Now imagine if you were improving your home and were constrained by pages and pages of legal and technical regulations that take away that discretion. You would soon question whether those regulations were relevant and whether they provide any value or simply delayed and jeopardized good decision-making. Worse yet, imagine if you had to follow rules that someone else outside your family, your community or your country set for you. While public procurement requires a higher standard of governance than personal procurement, developing countries and other stakeholders are raising these questions regarding the policies set by multilateral aid institutions. In November 2013, the World Bank released the report of its first stage efforts in reforming its procurement policy as it relates to the projects it finances. As the World Bank enters the second stage in designing the actual reforms, the “development community” faces a crucial moment and opportunity to refine and reform a fundamental instrument in the development toolbox—one that has been treated for too long as a “plumbing and wiring” issue that ignores the broader public policy implications and the growing burden of conflicting objectives, regulations, incentives and political polemics. The purpose of this paper is to examine concerns regarding reform of multilateral agencies’ public procurement policies, enhance awareness of what is at stake and lay the groundwork for the reform discussions at development institutions that will take place over the next year. I should alert you, however, that I am neither a procurement specialist, nor am I a lawyer or an engineer. I would describe myself as a development practitioner. After decades of working on infrastructure projects and on multilateral operational policy, I have maintained a deep respect for my procurement colleagues who have protected my proverbial “backside.” One quickly learns in this business that a mistake in procurement can result in serious consequences as one sits in the middle of the converging, and often conflicting, interests of governments, donors, private sector and, of course, affected communities. The procurement policies applied by the multilateral finance institutions have been responsible for enhancing competition, deepening transparency and raising the integrity of investment in developing countries, as well as opening markets for developed and developing countries’ businesses. As the world of public procurement has evolved, however, one also learns that procurement is becoming more than just getting the “plumbing and wiring” right. Indeed, the role and application of public procurement policies and practices is an essential element of design and implementation with crucial consequences for the quality of outcomes. The case set forth in this paper lays out the factors driving the need for major reform of multilateral banks’ procurement policies—rather than simply adapting existing policies. This paper also presents the major challenges to be addressed in designing the reforms and the tensions to be resolved or balanced as the World Bank enters the more detailed design stage of its reform effort. Downloads Download the full paper Authors Jeffrey Gutman Full Article
id Retrofitting Coal-Fired Power Plants in Middle-Income Countries: What Role for the World Bank? By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Wed, 16 Jul 2014 11:11:00 -0400 In July 2013, the World Bank decided to phase-out lending for new coal-fired power plants in middle-income countries, except in rare circumstances where no financially feasible alternatives to coal exist. This decision was made for a combination of reasons including concerns about local air pollution and global climate change, as well as evidence that these projects have little trouble attracting private capital without World Bank involvement. Now, policymakers are considering whether the World Bank’s policy should also cover projects designed to retrofit existing coal-fired power plants in middle-income countries by adding scrubbers and other technologies that increase efficiency and reduce air pollution. There are several fundamental questions underlying this debate: Is financing coal power plant retrofits a good use of World Bank resources? If so, should the World Bank insist on the use of best available technologies when it finances these retrofits? These questions are vitally important, as retrofit technologies are designed to minimize toxic air pollutants, including soot and smog, which are both dangerous for human health and the world’s climate. Older coal plants without retrofit technologies are less efficient, and emit more pollutants per unit of coal burned than those with retrofits applied. Evidence shows that soot and smog can cause respiratory illness and asthma, especially in children and elderly people, and can diminish local agricultural production by reducing sunlight. Furthermore, in many countries coal plants are the single largest source of carbon dioxide emissions driving climate change. To help inform the policy debate, this analysis surveys the technologies in use in more than 2,000 coal-fired power plants currently in operation, under construction, or planned in middle-income countries. The findings reveal that roughly 70 percent of these power plants rely on old, inefficient technologies. Retrofitting these plants would reduce pollution, increase efficiency and save lives. In middle-income countries that do not mandate coal retrofits, the World Bank could play a helpful role in financing those improvements, particularly as part of broader policy reforms designed to reduce climate pollution and increase efficiency across the power sector. Importantly, however, the data also show that important qualifications should be made. First, because coal is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions and retrofits are likely to keep coal plants operating longer, the World Bank should insist that retrofit projects occur within a context of national and local policy reforms designed to abate greenhouse gas pollution. Toward this end, the World Bank should continue to help countries build capacity to adopt and enforce climate pollution controls and other offsetting actions and policies. Second, the World Bank should insist that projects it finances use best available pollution control technologies. Already, the substantial majority of coal retrofits completed to date in middle-income countries have used best available technologies. These retrofits were almost universally financed exclusively by private capital. The World Bank should not use its capital to support inferior retrofit technologies that are below the standards already adopted by the private sector in middle-income countries. Downloads Download the full report (PDF) Authors Nigel PurvisAbigail JonesCecilia Springer Full Article
id What does “agriculture” mean today? Assessing old questions with new evidence. By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Thu, 17 Mar 2016 14:04:00 -0400 One of global society’s foremost structural changes underway is its rapid aggregate shift from farmbased to city-based economies. More than half of humanity now lives in urban areas, and more than two-thirds of the world’s economies have a majority of their population living in urban settings. Much of the gradual movement from rural to urban areas is driven by long-term forces of economic progress. But one corresponding downside is that city-based societies become increasingly disconnected—certainly physically, and likely psychologically—from the practicalities of rural livelihoods, especially agriculture, the crucial economic sector that provides food to fuel humanity. The nature of agriculture is especially important when considering the tantalizingly imminent prospect of eliminating extreme poverty within a generation. The majority of the world’s extremely poor people still live in rural areas, where farming is likely to play a central role in boosting average incomes. Agriculture is similarly important when considering environmental challenges like protecting biodiversity and tackling climate change. For example, agriculture and shifts in land use are responsible for roughly a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions. As a single word, the concept of “agriculture” encompasses a remarkably diverse set of circumstances. It can be defined very simply, as at dictionary.com, as “the science or occupation of cultivating land and rearing crops and livestock.” But underneath that definition lies a vast array of landscape ecologies and climates in which different types of plant and animal species can grow. Focusing solely on crop species, each plant grows within a particular set of respective conditions. Some plants provide food—such as grains, fruits, or vegetables—that people or livestock can consume directly for metabolic energy. Other plants provide stimulants or medication that humans consume—such as coffee or Artemisia—but have no caloric value. Still others provide physical materials—like cotton or rubber—that provide valuable inputs to physical manufacturing. One of the primary reasons why agriculture’s diversity is so important to understand is that it defines the possibilities, and limits, for the diffusion of relevant technologies. Some crops, like wheat, grow only in temperate areas, so relevant advances in breeding or plant productivity might be relatively easy to diffuse across similar agro-ecological environments but will not naturally transfer to tropical environments, where most of the world’s poor reside. Conversely, for example, rice originates in lowland tropical areas and it has historically been relatively easy to adopt farming technologies from one rice-growing region to another. But, again, its diffusion is limited by geography and climate. Meanwhile maize can grow in both temperate and tropical areas, but its unique germinating properties render it difficult to transfer seed technologies across geographies. Given the centrality of agriculture in many crucial global challenges, including the internationally agreed Sustainable Development Goals recently established for 2030, it is worth unpacking the topic empirically to describe what the term actually means today. This short paper does so with a focus on developing country crops, answering five basic questions: 1. What types of crops does each country grow? 2. Which cereals are most prominent in each country? 3. Which non-cereal crops are most prominent in each country? 4. How common are “cash crops” in each country? 5. How has area harvested been changing recently? Readers should note that the following assessments of crop prominence are measured by area harvested, and therefore do not capture each crop’s underlying level of productivity or overarching importance within an economy. For example, a local cereal crop might be worth only $200 per ton of output in a country, but average yields might vary across a spectrum from around 1 to 6 tons per hectare (or even higher). Meanwhile, an export-oriented cash crop like coffee might be worth $2,000 per ton, with potential yields ranging from roughly half a ton to 3 or more tons per hectare. Thus the extent of area harvested forms only one of many variables required for a thorough understanding of local agricultural systems. The underlying analysis for this paper was originally conducted for a related book chapter on “Agriculture’s role in ending extreme poverty” (McArthur, 2015). That chapter addresses similar questions for a subset of 61 countries still estimated to be struggling with extreme poverty challenges as of 2011. Here we present data for a broader set of 140 developing countries. All tables are also available online for download. Downloads Download the full paper (PDF)Cropshares_tables_cleanCrop_Shares_metadataFAO crop codesFAO_cropsharesWB income classWBcodescountrycode Authors John McArthur Full Article
id How COVID-19 could push Congress to start reining in vulture capitalism By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Thu, 09 Apr 2020 14:57:23 +0000 The effects of income inequality have been felt throughout society but they are especially evident in the current coronavirus crisis. For instance, workers in the information economy are able to telework and draw their salaries, but workers in the service sector are either unemployed or at great risk as they interact with customers during a… Full Article
id Women’s work boosts middle class incomes but creates a family time squeeze that needs to be eased By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Thu, 07 May 2020 12:00:00 +0000 In the early part of the 20th century, women sought and gained many legal rights, including the right to vote as part of the 19th Amendment. Their entry into the workforce, into occupations previously reserved for men, and into the social and political life of the nation should be celebrated. The biggest remaining challenge is… Full Article
id The value of systemwide, high-quality data in early childhood education By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Thu, 20 Feb 2020 17:38:04 +0000 High-quality early learning experiences—those filled with stimulating and supportive interactions between children and caregivers—can have long-lasting impacts for children, families, and society. Unfortunately, many families, particularly low-income families, struggle to find any affordable early childhood education (ECE) program, much less programs that offer engaging learning opportunities that are likely to foster long-term benefits. This post… Full Article
id A parent’s guide to surviving COVID-19: 8 strategies to keep children healthy and happy By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Tue, 17 Mar 2020 17:20:24 +0000 For many of us, COVID-19 has completely changed how we work. Remote work might have its advantages for some, but when the kids are out of school and libraries and museums are closed, juggling two roles at once can be a challenge. What is a parent to do? As two developmental psychologists dedicated to understanding… Full Article
id After coronavirus subsides, we must pay teachers more By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Mon, 30 Mar 2020 20:11:58 +0000 As Wall Street takes a pounding from the COVID-19 pandemic, the stock we place in teachers is on the rise. If you didn’t appreciate the expertise, labor, and dedication that teachers patiently pour into our children most days of the week, then you probably do now. To help reduce the spread of the coronavirus, districts… Full Article
id Playful learning in everyday places during the COVID-19 crisis—and beyond By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Tue, 07 Apr 2020 20:19:31 +0000 Under normal circumstances, children spend 80 percent of their waking time outside the classroom. The COVID-19 pandemic has quite abruptly turned that 80 percent into 100 percent. Across the U.S., schools and child care centers have been mandated to close, and children of all ages are now home full time. This leaves many families, especially… Full Article
id Webinar: Confronting climate change in the global COVID-19 recovery By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Thu, 16 Apr 2020 15:56:04 +0000 The year 2020 was always going to be critical for climate change. In the United States, a presidential election will likely present two candidates whose climate policies are diametrically at odds. Around the world, countries are required to submit updated plans to the United Nations in order to comply with the Paris Agreement in a… Full Article
id Global solutions to global ‘bads’: 2 practical proposals to help developing countries deal with the COVID-19 pandemic By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Wed, 22 Apr 2020 14:51:01 +0000 In a piece written for this blog four years ago—after the Ebola outbreaks but mostly focused on rising natural disasters—I argued that to deal with global public “bads” such as climate change, natural disasters, diseases, and financial crises, we needed global financing mechanisms. Today, the world faces not just another global public bad, but one… Full Article
id The urgent question on Earth Day remains how to avoid the consequences of climate change By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Wed, 22 Apr 2020 19:31:42 +0000 Full Article
id 20200423 Inside Epa Todd Stern By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Thu, 23 Apr 2020 17:58:31 +0000 Full Article
id COVID-19 and climate: Your questions, our answers By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: The year 2020 was always going to be critical for climate change, but the coronavirus pandemic dramatically altered the picture in some respects. Earlier this week, Brookings hosted a virtual event on COVID-19 and climate change, moderated by Samantha Gross, and featuring Brookings Senior Fellow Todd Stern, Ingrid-Gabriela Hoven of the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Stéphane Hallegatte of the World Bank, and Pablo Vieira of… Full Article
id From rescue to recovery, to transformation and growth: Building a better world after COVID-19 By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Mon, 27 Apr 2020 18:40:08 +0000 Full Article
id 20200428 InsideEPA Todd Stern By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Tue, 28 Apr 2020 15:53:26 +0000 Full Article
id COVID-19’s painful lesson in leadership By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Mon, 23 Mar 2020 17:29:08 +0000 Full Article
id Budgeting to promote social objectives—a primer on braiding and blending By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Mon, 06 Apr 2020 13:06:09 +0000 We know that to achieve success in most social policy areas, such as homelessness, school graduation, stable housing, happier aging, or better community health, we need a high degree of cross-sector and cross-program collaboration and budgeting. But that is perceived as being lacking in government at all levels, due to siloed agencies and programs, and… Full Article
id After COVID-19—thinking differently about running the health care system By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Thu, 23 Apr 2020 19:40:25 +0000 Full Article
id Removing regulatory barriers to telehealth before and after COVID-19 By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Wed, 06 May 2020 16:00:55 +0000 Introduction A combination of escalating costs, an aging population, and rising chronic health-care conditions that account for 75% of the nation’s health-care costs paint a bleak picture of the current state of American health care.1 In 2018, national health expenditures grew to $3.6 trillion and accounted for 17.7% of GDP.2 Under current laws, national health… Full Article
id A gender-sensitive response is missing from the COVID-19 crisis By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Thu, 16 Apr 2020 14:51:51 +0000 Razia with her six children and a drug-addicted husband lives in one room in a three-room compound shared with 20 other people. Pre-COVID-19, all the residents were rarely present in the compound at the same time. However, now they all are inside the house queuing to use a single toilet, a makeshift bathing shed, and… Full Article
id Mexico’s COVID-19 distance education program compels a re-think of the country’s future of education By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Tue, 21 Apr 2020 19:02:04 +0000 Saturday, March 14, 2020 was a historic day for education in Mexico. Through an official statement, the Secretariat of Public Education (SEP) informed students and their families that schools would close to reinforce the existing measures of social distancing in response to COVID-19 and in accordance with World Health Organization recommendations. Mexico began to implement… Full Article
id Adapting approaches to deliver quality education in response to COVID-19 By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Thu, 23 Apr 2020 21:08:11 +0000 The world is adjusting to a new reality that was unimaginable three months ago. COVID-19 has altered every aspect of our lives, introducing abrupt changes to the way governments, businesses, and communities operate. A recent virtual summit of G-20 leaders underscored the changing times. The pandemic has impacted education systems around the world, forcing more… Full Article
id The COVID-19 cost of school closures By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Wed, 29 Apr 2020 16:12:26 +0000 In mid-April, UNESCO reported 192 countries had closed all schools and universities, affecting more than 90 percent of the world’s learners: almost 1.6 billion children and young people. While some governments are starting to order teachers and students back to work, education—one of the most important drivers in human capital investment—continues to be largely closed… Full Article
id Recognizing women’s important role in Jordan’s COVID-19 response By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Wed, 29 Apr 2020 18:47:07 +0000 Jordan’s quick response to the COVID-19 outbreak has made many Jordanians, including myself, feel safe and proud. The prime minister and his cabinet’s response has been commended globally, as the epicenter in the country has been identified and contained. But at the same time, such accolades have been focused on the males, erasing the important… Full Article
id Avoiding the COVID-19 slump: Making up for lost school time By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Thu, 30 Apr 2020 14:53:48 +0000 In 1996, Harris Cooper of Duke University and his colleagues first reported on the effects of what came to be known as summer slide, or summer slump. Over the summer months, when children are not in school, those from under-resourced communities tend to lose roughly 30 percent of the gains they made in math during… Full Article
id How school closures during COVID-19 further marginalize vulnerable children in Kenya By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Wed, 06 May 2020 15:39:07 +0000 On March 15, 2020, the Kenyan government abruptly closed schools and colleges nationwide in response to COVID-19, disrupting nearly 17 million learners countrywide. The social and economic costs will not be borne evenly, however, with devastating consequences for marginalized learners. This is especially the case for girls in rural, marginalized communities like the Maasai, Samburu,… Full Article
id The Middle East unraveling By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Thu, 16 Apr 2020 18:19:38 +0000 Full Article
id Webinar: Covid-19 and Migrant Workers in the Gulf By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Sun, 26 Apr 2020 07:19:35 +0000 The Brookings Doha Center (BDC) hosted a webinar discussion on April 29, 2020 about the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on migrant workers in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Panelists explained migrant workers’ response to the virus, how the present situation will impact future labor conditions, and the difficulties of reporting on the ground. The… Full Article
id Evidence-based retirement policy: Necessity and opportunity By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Wed, 29 Jan 2020 14:00:25 +0000 Retirement saving plays an important role in the U.S. economy. Americans hold more than $18 trillion in private retirement accounts like 401(k)s and IRAs, while defined benefit pensions in the private and public sector hold trillions more. Social Security and Medicare comprise nearly 40 percent of the federal budget. The government also provides tax subsidies… Full Article
id Public pension reform in the U.S. presidential campaign By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Mon, 30 Mar 2020 17:00:36 +0000 Full Article
id COVID-19 has revealed a flaw in public health systems. Here’s how to fix it. By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Thu, 30 Apr 2020 16:22:44 +0000 To be capable of surveilling, preventing, and managing disease outbreaks, public health systems require trustworthy, community-embedded public health workers who are empowered to undertake their tasks as professionals. The world has not invested in this cadre of health workers, despite the lessons from Ebola. In a new paper, my co-authors and I discuss why, and… Full Article
id How to ensure Africa has the financial resources to address COVID-19 By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Mon, 04 May 2020 09:31:32 +0000 As countries around the world fall into a recession due to the coronavirus, what effects will this economic downturn have on Africa? Brahima S. Coulibaly joins David Dollar to explain the economic strain from falling commodity prices, remittances, and tourism, and also the consequences of a recent G-20 decision to temporarily suspend debt service payments… Full Article
id An off-grid energy future requires learning from the past By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Mon, 04 May 2020 17:43:14 +0000 The more things change, the more they stay the same. For the nearly 860 million people living without electricity, the technologies and business options for delivering access have grown a lot. Yet a wide gap remains between the cost of providing last-mile electricity and what poorer folks are able to pay. It’s the same challenge that every… Full Article
id The unreal dichotomy in COVID-19 mortality between high-income and developing countries By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Tue, 05 May 2020 16:23:05 +0000 Here’s a striking statistic: Low-income and lower-middle income countries (LICs and LMICs) account for almost half of the global population but they make up only 2 percent of the global death toll attributed to COVID-19. We think this difference is unreal. Views about the severity of the pandemic have evolved a lot since its outbreak… Full Article
id Who’s afraid of COVID-19? By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Wed, 06 May 2020 15:30:02 +0000 Humans are bad at assessing risk even in the best of times. During a pandemic—when the disease is unfamiliar, people are isolated and stressed, and the death toll is rising—our risk perception becomes even more distorted, with fear often overwhelming reason. This is a recipe for disastrous policy mistakes. To be sure, the danger posed… Full Article
id Turning back the Poverty Clock: How will COVID-19 impact the world’s poorest people? By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Wed, 06 May 2020 16:43:10 +0000 The release of the IMF’s World Economic Outlook provides an initial country-by-country assessment of what might happen to the world economy in 2020 and 2021. Using the methods described in the World Poverty Clock, we ask what will happen to the number of poor people in the world—those living in households with less than $1.90… Full Article
id Figures of the week: The costs of financing Africa’s response to COVID-19 By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Thu, 07 May 2020 16:21:13 +0000 Last month’s edition of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s biannual Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa, which discusses economic developments and prospects for the region, pays special attention to the financial channels through which COVID-19 has—and will—impact the economic growth of the region. Notably, the authors of the report reduced their GDP growth estimates from… Full Article
id How the CARES Act affects COVID-19 test pricing By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Thu, 09 Apr 2020 13:49:55 +0000 Tucked in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act – the sweeping economic relief package signed into law on March 27, 2020 – are a pair of provisions addressing payment for COVID-19 testing. The first of these (Sec. 3201) clarifies a requirement enacted in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, passed a week… Full Article
id Responding to COVID-19: Using the CARES Act’s hospital fund to help the uninsured, achieve other goals By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Mon, 13 Apr 2020 13:36:07 +0000 Full Article
id Webinar: Telehealth before and after COVID-19 By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Mon, 27 Apr 2020 14:35:44 +0000 The coronavirus outbreak has generated an immediate need for telehealth services to prevent further infections in the delivery of health care. Before the global pandemic, federal and state regulations around reimbursement and licensure requirements limited the use of telehealth. Private insurance programs and Medicaid have historically excluded telehealth from their coverage, and state parity laws… Full Article
