World leaders are deliberating when and how to re-open business operations amidst considerable uncertainty as to the economic consequences of the coronavirus. One pressing question is whether or not countries that have remained relatively open have managed to escape at least some of the economic harm, and whether that harm is related to the spread…

The COVID-19 crisis has allowed a revealing look into the shortcomings of the U.S.’s child welfare system. While no institution has proved strong enough to operate effectively and efficiently under the unprecedented circumstances brought on by COVID-19, the crisis has unveiled holes in the child welfare system that call for both immediate and long-term action.…

Because of the COVID-19 crisis, the US economy has nearly ground to a halt. Tens of millions of workers are now seeing their jobs and livelihoods disappear—in some cases, permanently. Many businesses will never reopen, especially those that have or had large debts to manage. State and federal lawmakers have responded by pouring trillions of…

COVID-19 has upended, along with everything else, the balance sheets of the nation’s elementary and secondary schools. As soon as school buildings closed, districts faced new costs associated with distance learning, ranging from physically distributing instructional packets and up to three meals a day, to supplying instructional programming for television and distributing Chromebooks and internet…

Throughout history, crisis and human progress have often gone hand in hand. While the growing COVID-19 pandemic could strengthen nationalism and isolationism and accelerate the retreat from globalization, the outbreak also could spur a new wave of international cooperation of the sort that emerged after World War II. COVID-19 may become not only a huge…

The COVID-19 crisis represents an unprecedented test of human solidarity. Will the wealthy—or, indeed, all those with stable incomes or savings cushions—embrace measures to support the poor and economically insecure? Will the young, among whom the mortality rate is lower, make sacrifices to protect the old? And will people in rich countries accept resource transfers…

Nir Jaimovich and Henry Siu have written a very helpful and useful paper that summarizes the empirical literature by labor economists on how automation affect the labor market and the middle class. Their main arguments can be summarized as follows: The labor markets in the US (and other industrialized countries) has become increasingly “polarized” in…

The coronavirus crisis in the United States—and the associated business closures, event cancellations, and work-from-home policies—has triggered a deep economic downturn of uncertain duration. The Federal Reserve has stepped in with a broad array of actions to limit the economic damage from the pandemic, including up to $2.3 trillion in lending to support households, employers, financial…

The COVID-19 pandemic—in addition to posing a severe threat to public health—has disrupted the economy and financial markets, and prompted a strong desire among investors for safe and liquid securities. In that environment, one might expect U.S. Treasury securities to be the investment of choice, but for a while in March, the $18 trillion market…

The economic activity of the U.S. has plummeted in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and unemployment has soared—largely the result of social distancing policies designed to slow the spread of the virus. The depth and speed of the decline will rival that of the Great Depression. But will the aftermath be as painful? Or…

The monthly jobs report—the unemployment rate from one survey and the change in employer payrolls from another survey—is one of the most closely watched economic indicators, particularly at a time of an economic crisis like today. Here’s a look at how these data are collected and how to interpret them during the COVID-19 pandemic. What…

Sunday, November 20 marked another United Nations “Africa Industrialization Day.” If anything, the level of attention to industrializing Africa coming from regional organizations, the multilateral development banks, and national governments has increased since the last one. This year, the new president of the African Development Bank flagged industrial development as one of his “high five”…

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…

The COVID-19 pandemic has graphically illustrated the importance of digital networks and service platforms. Imagine the shelter-in-place reality we would have experienced at the beginning of the 21st century, only two decades ago: a slow internet and (because of that) nothing like Zoom or Netflix. Digital networks that deliver the internet to our homes, and…

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…

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…

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…

As America plunges into recession, Congress and President Donald Trump have approved a series of aid packages to assist businesses, the unemployed, and others impacted by COVID-19. The first three aid packages will likely be supplemented by at least a fourth package, as the nation’s leaders better understand the depth and reach of the economic…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6-PSpx4dqU India’s electricity grid’s most complex and perhaps most critical layer is the distribution companies (Discoms) that retail electricity to consumers. They have historically faced numerous challenges of high losses, both financial and operational. COVID-19 has imposed new challenges on the entire sector, but Discoms are the lynchpin of the system.  In a panel discussion…

The Prime Minister of India held a meeting on April 30, 2020 to consider reforms in the mines and coal sector to jump-start the Indian economy in the backdrop of COVID-19. The mining sector, which is a primary supplier of raw materials to the manufacturing and infrastructure sectors, is being considered to play a crucial…

Watch the archived video on CSPAN.org » Thirty years ago, Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev met in Reykjavik, Iceland for a summit devoted to arms control. While a potential agreement—possibly including elimination of all U.S. and Soviet nuclear weapons—collapsed over differences regarding ballistic missile defense, the meeting set in motion moves that produced significant reductions in nuclear […]

With a revised foreword by Brookings President Strobe Talbott and a new introduction by Berlin’s editor, Henry Hardy George Kennan, the architect of US policy toward the Soviet Union, called Isaiah Berlin “the patron saint among the commentators on the Russian scene.” In The Soviet Mind, Berlin proves himself fully worthy of that accolade. Although […]

Executive Summary This policy brief invokes the standards of ancient Greek drama to analyze the COVID-19 pandemic as a potential tragedy in U.S.-China relations and a potential tragedy for the world. The nature of the two countries’ political realities in 2020 have led to initial mismanagement of the crisis on both sides of the Pacific.…

In 1992, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development partnered with five public housing authorities to launch Moving to Opportunity ⁠— a 10-year fair housing experiment to help low income families find housing in low-poverty areas. They hoped to test what many people already suspected: different neighborhoods affect opportunity in different ways. The results…

For several generations, urban transportation policymakers and practitioners around the world favored a “mobility” approach, aimed at moving people and vehicles as fast as possible by reducing congestion. The limits of such an approach, however, have become more apparent over time, as residents struggle to reach workplaces, schools, hospitals, shopping, and numerous other destinations in…

The COVID-19 pandemic is unmasking a lot of ugly economic and social truths across the Midwest, especially in my home state of Michigan. The appearance of a good economy in the Midwest following the Great Recession (which hit the region very hard) was a bit of an illusion. Prior to the arrival of the coronavirus,…

The COVID-19 pandemic is forcing some major adjustments to many aspects of our daily lives that will likely remain long after the crisis recedes: virtual learning, telework, and fewer hugs and handshakes, just to name a few. But in addition, let’s hope the crisis also drives a permanent overhaul of the nation’s woefully inadequate worker…

The novel coronavirus was first identified in January 2020, having caused people to become ill in Wuhan, China. Since then, it has rapidly spread across the world, causing widespread fear and uncertainty. At the time of writing, close to 500,000 cases and 20,000 deaths had been confirmed globally; these numbers continue to rise at an…

The novel coronavirus that causes the disease known as COVID-19 is sweeping across the Middle East and reigniting religious tensions, as governments tighten the reins on long-held practices in the name of fighting the pandemic. There is no doubt that the restrictions, including the closure of Shia shrines in Iraq and Iran and the cancelation…

With more than 1,000 deaths, 3 million and counting unemployed, and no definite end in sight, the coronavirus has upended nearly every aspect of American life. In the last two weeks, the Federal Reserve and Congress scrambled to pass policies to mitigate what will be a very deep recession. Americans across the country are asking—…

As Congress passes multi-trillion dollar support packages in response to the economic and physical shocks of the coronavirus pandemic, what are state and local governments doing to respond? What kinds of economic and other assistance do they need? What will be the enduring impact of this crisis on workers and certain industries? On this episode,…

The COVID-19 epidemic sweeping the globe has affected millions of students, whose school closures have more often than not caught them, their teachers, and families by surprise. For some, it means missing class altogether, while others are trialing online learning—often facing difficulties with online connections, as well as motivational and psychosocial well-being challenges. These problems…

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, some East and Southeast Asian countries have employed various public health policy and medical approaches to slow the spread of the virus within their borders. These measures have been reasonably effective in slowing the spread of the pandemic, but they have not taken root in many countries outside of the…

A major political crisis has broken out in Brazil. The Minister of Justice Moro resigned yesterday after president Bolsonaro removed the head of the Federal Police (FP) Valeixo, who had been nominated by Moro. The now former minister of justice has accused Bolsonaro of wanting to appoint a new FP head from whom he could get information in relation to cases involving Bolsonaro's sons, including the assassination of PSOL councillor Marielle Franco.

We have seen this movie before.

It's like a moving High Line, and is still a very good idea.

The new vision promotes active transportation like walking and biking.

So if you’re anything like me, you’ve been waiting as patiently as you could for Aug 17. Last Friday was the opening weekend for two highly anticipated films: Superbad starring Jonah Hill, Michael Cera & Seth Rogen, and The 11th Hour directed by

The head of a cooperative of honey harvesters, a park guide, and a doctor who uses a garden of medicinal plants to treat asthma and other ailments are

It's clever, cheap, burns calories and keeps the blood flowing and heart pumping.

Drivers used to get away with murder; new legislation is much stronger.

Doug Ford, now leading in the polls, wants to open up more of it for development.

The latest figures from the EIA show renewable energy sources overtaking nuclear power in the US, through the first nine months of 2011.

Just keeping your phone in your car's console during a drive could charge the battery with this novel tiny generator.

A UK offset company launches a world-first partnership to finance Life-Straw water purifiers in Africa.