Apr 22
“Hi I am Sal Khan. I am the founder and faculty of the Khan Academy and we are trying to educate the world.” These were the first words I heard Salmaan Khan speak when I watched my first video on the Khan Academy. I was instantly impressed. A single article would never be able to …
Apr 20
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
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 11
A couple of years ago, celebrities like Bono and highly respected individuals like Nelson Mandela brought our attention to the importance of debt relief and what such relief might mean to developing countries. Ironically, at the same time, many countries began to understand the importance of having a secondary market for debt especially when dealing …
Apr 08
In my previous post, I spoke about how corrupt governments and conflicts seriously dampen a countries quest to economic development and poverty eradication. While these posts were very general, today I would like to provide you with specific examples from across the world to show you what I mean. Lets begin with India. One third …
Apr 06
The Opportunity In my last post, I spoke about how developing nations face two main obstacles in their path to economic and social development. Corruption in government and constant conflicts often plague developing nations and inhibit their ability to break the shackles of poverty. I believe that the countries that have the best chance of …
Mar 28
Friday and Saturday, March 25th & 26th, 2011, were two amazing days in New York City. On both days, Columbia University held the 8th Annual African Economic Forum (AEF), organized by the graduate school of business, the School of International Public Affairs (SIPA Pan African Network – SPAN), and the Africa Law Students Association at …
Mar 25
On the 11th of March, at precisely 2:46 p.m., a 9.0 magnitude earthquake struck Japan leaving destruction in its path. The loss of lives and property are constantly rising even today. But probably one of the biggest blows to Japan was the crumbling of its economy. Questions arose of whether the 3rd largest economy in the …
Mar 23
Yesterday, on the 22nd of March 2011, was World Water Day. It was a day to raise awareness for something most people in developed nations take for granted – clean drinking water. Right now, almost a billion people don’t have access to clean and safe drinking water. That’s about one in every eight people. Only …
Mar 22
In my last post, I spoke about the problems that arose through debt burdens, and why countries find it so difficult to rid themselves of that obstacle. Countries that are freed from their debts end up accumulating more debts because of failed promises for development assistance. Whatever the reason, the international community needs to come …
