Jul 25
August 1st will mark the start of the fasting month of Ramadan, as well as a new obstacle for the countries involved in the Arab Spring. Ramadan, for those of you not on top of Muslim practices, is a month-long fast during which devout Muslims cannot eat or drink during the daylight. The fast is …
Jul 20
When you think “ecotourism” China is probably not the first place that comes to mind. No, China brings up images of massive crowds of people and heavy smog clouds, not things that are very compatible with environmentally and economically friendly ecotourism. However, with 41 UNESCO World Heritage Sites and 28 UNESCO Biosphere Reserves, the ecotourism …
Jul 18
In an interesting move to encourage economic development, Cambodia recently opened its first stock exchange, the Cambodia Securities Exchange (CSX). What part of that is interesting, you may be wondering? Well, currently there are no stocks to trade, no companies listed, which makes this the smallest stock exchange in the world. It’s sort of …
Jul 15
If you have been paying attention to the news for the past few weeks, you know that there has been a lot of controversy surrounding the United States’ debt ceiling. Theoretically, we have a debt ceiling to control federal spending. This ceiling puts a cap on the amount of bonds the Treasury can issue. If …
Jul 14
The Demise of Biodiversity I come from a family of amateur farmers. For as long as I can remember, my backyard in New Jersey has been filled with several types of cucumber, tomato, hot peppers, basil and lettuce plants, all courtesy of the tender ministrations of my grandfather and father. Growing up around such a …
Jul 13
The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) announced on July 7th that it will be coming together with Spain to organize the First International Congress on Ethics and Tourism. The conference will be held on the 15th and 16th of September in Madrid and will cover issues such as responsible tourism, fair tourism and poverty reduction, and the role of the …
Jul 11
On Thursday, July 8th, a rather interesting live web chat was conducted by USAID Administrator Raj Shah and actor Kal Penn. The topic of the web chat, “How to Make Change: Youth and International Development,” was especially important for young people who are curious about their role in the world today. Administrator Shah directly answered …
Jul 06
The president of Myanmar (formerly Burma) announced an interesting way to fight poverty and increase economic development in the countryside: a sustainable microfinance system. Microfinance, for those of you that don’t know, is a system in which low-income clients and others who do not have access to banking services are given loans with the assumption …
Jul 04
In September 2000, the United Nations established eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in hopes of improving social and economic conditions in the world’s poorest countries. The MDGs have caused governments around the world to rally together in a global partnership to make significant progress in some of the most challenging areas in the developing world. The …
Jun 29
Beyond the tragedy of the commons Very often the countries with abundant resources are the poorest and the least developed. Common wisdom assumes that development requires exploitation of these resources. But is there an alternative? In recent years, there has been an increase in sustainable and eco-friendly businesses that challenge this assumption. Eco-tourism is one …
