It isn’t surprising that so-called “ambulance economics” has gained mass policy appeal as the global economy descends into madness. The battlefield, after all, is no place for quiet research and careful study.  But even the most pressing humanitarian disasters could use a little “clinical economics” to help decision-makers better chart out the way forward. Recent poverty relief efforts in Haiti, for instance, should certainly focus first on the bare essentials of sustenance, sanitation, and security. Once politicians and development professionals are able to stop the bleeding, however, the really critical work actually begins in terms of supporting the long-term prosperity of the country. In that spirit, any path forward should take into consideration the unique historical,…

Exploring the recent economic “upheaval” through the lens of history helps in at least two ways: 1) it assures us that humanity has faced similar dangers in the past and somehow lived to tell the tale, and 2) it suggests that the same entrepreneurial instincts that led us into trouble (yet again) also hold the key to restoring stability and growth. This speech by the President of the World Bank highlights a series of events that presaged the crisis — like the “emergence” of emerging economies, the popularity of leveraged finance, and growing imbalances of trade — focusing less on the outcome and more on the decades of unbridled expansion that inspired it…

Prescient words from Lebanese poet Khalil Gibran in 1934…

Pity the nation that wears a cloth it does not weave,
eats a bread it does not harvest,
and drinks a wine that flows not from its own wine-press.
Pity the nation that acclaims the bully as hero,
and that deems the glittering conqueror bountiful.
Pity the nation that despises a passion in its dream,
yet submits in its awakening.

It’s no surprise that financial crises – like intercourse, pro sports, and agriculture – run in alternating cycles of boom and bust. Classical economic theory suggests that such cyclicality can be overcome through innovations in resource use, factor productivity, and leverage. Classical history suggests otherwise. In the following rant, celebrity economist Jeff Sachs tackles the two-headed plague of stagflation — part stagnant economic growth, part inflation — and offers the 1970s as an illustrative case study in how to keep a resource-hungry, debt-ridden, war-wearied hegemon from spinning its economic wheels…

Further commentary on the interconnected themes of income disparity, agricultural inflation, and selective de-globalization, this time by Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen. Perhaps most compelling is the charge that a rising tide doesn’t lift all ships, and those who have benefited least from a “flattening” of our economic superstructure are often the most exposed to rising prices and shifting patterns of supply and demand. Also of note is the graphic artist chosen to visualize our scramble for scarce natural resources, yet another gifted Walrus alum…

It isn’t everyday that mega-corporations act outside of their own financial interest. It simply isn’t in their design. But suppose that it was possible to expand profitability by reducing environmental impact, sourcing sustainable products, and pushing “green” across an entire supply chain. Such is the latest logic out of Bentonville, Arkansas, where the world’s largest retailer and private sector employer is taking a decidedly new approach to the age-old challenge of perpetual corporate growth, and blazing a profit- and eco-friendly trail for other industrial titans to follow…

Social entrepreneurship is at the heart of Capitalism 2.0, and the country’s leading minds are finally demanding a full system upgrade…

Thoroughly Modern Do-Gooders
By DAVID BROOKS

Fashions in goodness change, just like fashions in anything else, and these days some of the very noblest people have assumed the manners of the business world — even though they don’t aim for profit. They call themselves social entrepreneurs, and you can find them in the neediest places on earth.

The people who fit into this category tend to have plenty of résumé bling. Bill Drayton, the godfather of this movement, went to Harvard, Yale, Oxford and McKinsey before founding Ashoka, a global change…

Once the white gold of the natural resource world, catalyst of Caribbean war, and provider of luxurious European consumption, sugar still has its hold over American protectionist policy in some embarrassingly predictable ways…

The Ford Foundation’s Values and Grant Letter

The Ford Foundation and the organizations that we support seek to:
reduce poverty and injustice,
promote democratic values,
increase international cooperation, and
advance human achievement.

As politicians and investors cast their enthusiastic support behind the legislation and technology necessary to christen the “New Age of Ethanol”, consensus among the world’s leading scientists is still critical at best. From hungry Mexicans to enraged environmentalists to ruffled foreign dignitaries, the real cost of ethanol has become increasingly obvious to all but the most cynical energy hucksters. Fueled by agricultural protectionism and the pressing drive for “energy independence”, the Ethanol Lobby is now humming on all cylinders, and if Runge and Senauer are right, that might spell disaster far beyond the pumps…

“During 1967 we were proud to identify ourselves as Canadians. In celebrating our country’s 100th birthday, we became conscious of the contributions made by our forefathers. Their courage, determination and perseverance have inspired us to shoulder our responsibilities as we enter a second century of progress.

“As young Canadians you have much to offer to the further development of our fair land. Endowed with a sound education and technical skills you are in a favourable position to extend the frontiers of knowledge. Each of you will have a share in promoting our rapidly expanding economy and in improving our standard of living. But your greatest contribution will lie in adherence to your ideals. The young people of to-day are deeply…

“Nationalism is like cheap alcohol.
First, it makes you drunk, then it makes you blind, and then it kills you.”
- Daniel Fried, Assistant Secretary of State, U.S. State Department

With a history of social chaos that spans most of human existence, it isn’t surprising that personal freedom is a fairly recent phenomena. This so-called “inalienable right” was only introduced in Holland, France, America and the fragile Ottoman Empire over the last few centuries, after years of philosophical introspection and ultimately bloody rebellion. Unlike the fall of the Roman and Greek empires — where authority was more regulatory than ascendant — these “populist” revolutions signaled not merely a new set of rules but also a radical…

This piece in the OpEd section of the Wall Street Journal could be written about any despotic regime in the history of humankind…except, of course, for the satellite dishes. Regime change rarely trickles from the top down, and when it does, it’s more like regime swap than any true social progression. In the case of Iran, a country with 70 million people — the majority of whom are under the age of 30 and two degrees removed from the last major revolution — the status quo isn’t all that bad. Those in the best position to pressure the powers that be are still too caught up in their sumptuous…

Morgan Stanley’s chief global economist adds his voice to the growing choir of doomsayers, predicting heartbreak for employees and consumers throughout the high-cost, developed world. His thesis is simple: growth in the world economy has come not from soaring wages but from bubbalicious home prices, soaring corporate profits, American consumerism and low-cost third-world labour. As jobs continue to stream offshore and the markets pray for a “soft landing”, recession may be the only tune this chorus is willing to sing…