When it comes to risk, local people are most likely to fear things which pose an immediate threat. These perceptions of risk need to be considered when building national policies.

Hanna Ruszczyk · The Conversation 31 May 2019

Global Risks

This is why countries with high debt are stuck in a 'doom loop'

The relationship between high public debt and low interest rates is once again at the forefront of debate. Evidence suggests that countries with high debt levels pay a risk premium.

Cinzia Alcidi and Daniel Gros · VoxEU 24 May 2019

Global Risks

What keeps me up at night? Two strategists reply

Disruptive change and a savings crisis are among the concerns of those attending WEF’s Industry Strategy Meeting

Karen Karniol-Tambour and Daria Krivonos 16 May 2019

Global Risks

The number of internally displaced people is at a record high. Here's why

Violence, political instability and poverty have caused the number of IDPs to increase by more than a million worldwide over the last year.

Vicente Anzellini and Clémence Leduc 10 May 2019

Climate Change

Arctic's melting permafrost will cost nearly $70 trillion, study finds

A paper published in Nature Communications predicts that permafrost melting could cost nearly $70 trillion, shedding light on the sheer scale of the issue at hand.

Jake Johnson · EcoWatch 30 Apr 2019

Climate Change

Why ministers of finance are critical in the fight against climate change

The single most critical government body, the ministry of finance, has the power to influence national development and economic policies, in the way that determines where public and priva...

Joanne Manda and Julien Chevillard 26 Apr 2019

Gender Parity

How 'savings circles' empower women in rural Africa

World Relief is helping women in Burundi to manage their own money, and subsequently lift their communities out of poverty.

Rhona Murungi 24 Apr 2019

European Union

How failing banks paved Hitler's path to power

In towns and cities where many firms were exposed to failing banks, Nazi votes surged.

Hans-Joachim Voth, José-Luis Peydró, and Sebastian Doerr · VoxEU 16 Apr 2019

Environment and Natural Resource Security

Why children must emit eight times less CO2 than their grandparents

If the goals of the Paris Agreement are to be met, young people will have to emit much less CO2 than earlier generations.

Zeke Hausfather · Carbon Brief 15 Apr 2019

Public Finance and Social Protection

What lessons can we learn from 200 years of public debt?

The history of sovereign debt has evolved over time along with the purposes for which governments borrowed. Here, the economic and political circumstances that made debt consolidation epi...

Barry Eichengreen, Asmaa El-Ganainy, Rui Esteves, and Kris James Mitchener · VoxEU 04 Apr 2019

Infrastructure

What Fukushima's cherry trees tell us about Japan's reinvention

Dismantling and decontamination from the Fukushima nuclear disaster will take several decades. For many in Japan, the disaster is seen as having launched a renaissance.

Sébastien Travadel, Aurélien Portelli, and Franck Guarnieri · The Conversation 04 Apr 2019

European Union

The EU just passed a major new law that will change the rules of the internet

The new rules mean that big tech companies will have to sign licensing agreements with musicians, performers, authors, news publishers and journalists to use their work online.

Thomson Reuters Foundation · Reuters 27 Mar 2019