Development

By Julius Probst | – Swedish academic Hans Rosling has identified a worrying trend: not only do many people across advanced economies have no idea that the world is becoming a much better place, but they actually even think the opposite. This is no wonder, when the news focuses on reporting catastrophes, terrorist attacks, wars […]

Banking

Not the Onion: Ivanka Trump in running for World Bank Head

Juan Cole

WASHINGTON (Ma’an) — Former United States Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, and US President Donald Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, are reportedly among possible US candidates to replace the outgoing World Bank President Jim Yong Kim. Earlier this week, Jim Yong Kim announced he would be stepping down as the World Bank’s president three […]

Democratic Socialism

Solar & Wind: How free electricity would change the world (Economist Video)

contributors

The Economist | (Video News Report) | – – “magine if heating and powering homes became free in the next decade. What would that mean for the world?” How free electricity would change the world | The Economist

Development

Morocco’s Solar Power Revolution Sparks Jobs, High-Tech Investment

contributors

Concentrating Solar becoming engine of development, according to World Bank

Bill of Rights

Given Trump’s Betrayal, Can we Crowdfund American Aid and Soft Power Abroad?

contributors

David Holdridge | (Informed Comment) | – – The current debate between liberals and the Trump Administration on American soft power abroad is not being framed correctly. Liberals should be arguing for more American citizen engagement overseas rather than for maintaining and extending into the future a dependency on USAID and the State Department. Since […]

Climate Change

Wind Power Juggernaut Really doing for 100K Workers what Trump only Promised

contributors

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Big news on the wind power front. First, it has emerged in the US as the number one renewable energy source, generating more electricity than hydro-electric for the first time. This milestone came in 2016 after 8,727 megawatts (MW) of new wind installations were activated. For […]

Development

Can Saudi Arabia Survive its Economic ‘Shock Therapy’?

contributors

By Nasser Saidi | (Project Syndicate) | – – BEIRUT – Saudi Arabia has long relied on oil to fuel its economic growth and development. Last year, oil accounted for about three-quarters of the Kingdom’s total export revenues and around 90% of government revenue. But the recent collapse in oil prices highlighted what should long […]

Development

Is the Mideast disintegrating or just being Auctioned Off?

contributors

By Patrick Cockburn | ( Tomdispatch.com) | – – We live in an age of disintegration. Nowhere is this more evident than in the Greater Middle East and Africa. Across the vast swath of territory between Pakistan and Nigeria, there are at least seven ongoing wars — in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Libya, Somalia, and […]

Development

Surprise! Despite Syria-Iraq Turmoil, Major Mideast Economies growing 3-4%

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – When you only hear bad news from a place, you form a negative opinion of it. But when I went looking for news about the economies of the most populous Middle Eastern countries, I was surprised to find that the IMF and/or World Bank is seeing […]