A Dynamic Welfare State?
Is it possible to have both a welfare state and a dynamic economy? Sweden offers hope that it is. Ironically, however, the countries best placed to establish sustainable welfare systems might be the ones most skeptical of them.
Featured Post
India would benefit from a collective response to global warming, but in the short term a unilateral strategy of high emissions growth is better. How can India ensure the optimal outcome?
Economics
Is it possible to have both a welfare state and a dynamic economy? Sweden offers hope that it is. Ironically, however, the countries best placed to establish sustainable welfare systems might be the ones most skeptical of them.
The NYTimes finds a clear link between subprime lending and race inequality in America, suggesting even in developing countries the availability of credit, by itself, is no solution to poverty.
Politics
What does Raul Castro’s ascension to Cuba’s presidency mean for change on the island?
The FARC are not legitimate combatants, as Hugo Chávez would have us believe, but rather a terrorist organization.
Environment
India would benefit from a collective response to global warming, but in the short term a unilateral strategy of high emissions growth is better. How can India ensure the optimal outcome?
Cleantech venture capital may have to accommodate longer innovation cycles if it is to reduce its dependence on subsidies and become financially sustainable.
Health
The first study of its kind in Brazil on national drug spending illustrates how the threat of compulsory licensing can be an excellent bargaining tool to reducing patented drug costs.
The Wall Street Journal defends patents, but disingenuously confuses the problems of high drug costs and poor delivery. Yet, the two issues are independent and require different approaches.
Welcome to The Discomfort Zone
The Discomfort Zone is an online magazine presenting critical and objective opinion and analysis on issues pertinent to the developing world and to international development. It brings together authors from different geographical regions with local experience and a global perspective to question the policy and practice of development.
Recent Posts
Natasha argues for pragmatism in this debate. While there may be a theoretical case for public education, there is no inherently better model. Universal public education, as a value, should not interfere with choosing whatever works best in a given situation. Let the perfect not be the enemy of the good.
My last two posts (here, here) on the role of the state in providing education and conversely questioning that of the private sector, resulted in some very illuminating responses from both sides of the spectrum. As a result, I will soon followup with an additional post highlighting previously unaddressed issues in this debate (and welcome other […]
Liberal economists suggest our public schools are terrible, and private schools are the answer. Yet, sufficient evidence exists that public schools are, in many cases, even better than private ones.
The failure of India’s primary education system deserves a solution. Yet, privatization is neither necessary, nor sufficient, and cannot be embarked upon without debating the desired balance between quality and equity.
Kosovo’s independence fundamentally weakens the case for multi-ethnic societies and for a multi-ethnic, “integrated” Europe.
