Since my previous post in which I brought to light Robert Bach and Peter Kocher’s proposal of eliminating tuition costs for med school students, I have had various interesting conversations with people about potential pros and cons of this plan. On the most part, people agreed with me that such a change to our medical …
Category: Economic Development
May 31
Colombia’s forced eradication of illicit crops
Leer la versión en Español In an effort to decrease drug trafficking, many countries have resorted to a forced eradication of illicit crops. There are two main methods in which crop eradication takes place: aerial spraying of toxic chemicals and forced manual eradication. It is assumed that the eradication of the crops will stop and …
May 19
Preventing Disaster in India
Despite Japan’s current nuclear crisis resulting from the earthquake in March, there are plans to build another nuclear power plant in Jaitapur, an earthquake-prone area on the west coast of India. This isn’t just your average nuclear plant, either – the proposed 9900-megawatt plant will cover 968 hectares of land (that’s more than two thousand …
May 06
A Vicious Cycle
Poverty, Disability, and Exclusion from Development Strategies A World Bank estimate suggests that 25% of the 1.3 billion most impoverished people in the world experience some form of disability, and according to the UN Development Program, 80% of persons with disabilities (PWDs) live in developing countries. These numbers are steadily increasing due to a number …
May 04
The Power of Pensions
Using Social Protection Mechanisms to fight Poverty Social Protection. These two words alone have the ability of easing the tension burden on old and poor people. Over the past few years, more and more attention is being given to this new development tool after the realization that it can combat povertyeffectively. Even while you are …
Apr 29
Penny Harvest Run for Change
When the earthquake struck Japan, the world was saddened by its catastrophic effects and many organizations, countries and even international bodies all rallied together to contribute to relief efforts. In two of my earlier posts, Help or not Series 1 and Philips Livable Cities Award, I stressed the fact that corporations need to be more …
Apr 29
Tourism=Economic Development?
How Tourism is Helping Economic Development Traveling to quaint and unique places has always been my passion. As an avid traveler myself, I enjoy experiencing different cultures and places. Now, while I love thinking of myself as the only person who actually indulges in some adventure travel, the reality of the situation is that there …
Apr 20
Put Food First: The World Bank’s Open Forum
The World Bank has asked us to imagine living on $1.25 a day and spending 85 cents of that to feed our families. I have also read about estimates which state that nearly 1 billion people from around the world go to bed hungry every night. These are thought-provoking facts but the truth is that …
Apr 20
The Food Price Shock
How the Global Food Crisis is Pushing More People into Poverty As a child, I hated being forced to finish eating my vegetables. I would always hide them in strategic locations like underneath my plate or behind the water jug. Only now as an adult have I finally realized the importance of food and how …
Apr 15
Antibiotic Resistance
An Analysis into the Latest Threat Humanity Faces One of the leading causes for the rise of average life expectancy in the 20th century was the development of effective antibiotics. Antibiotics are defined as any compound that either kills or severely impedes the growth of bacteria. Penicillin and other antibiotics were termed ‘wonder drugs’ and …