One Foot in the Region; Eyes on the Global Prize
Read any Brazilian foreign policy college textbook and you will be surprised. Global order since 1945 is not described as open, inclusive or rooted in multilateralism. Instead, you learn that big powers impose their will on the weak through force and rules that are strict and often arbitrary. In this world view, international institutions bend … Read more
How to Protect and Defend Free Trade
The expansion of global trade in recent decades has contributed significantly to economic growth and poverty reduction throughout the Western Hemisphere. Fueling this trade expansion were two major structural changes in the global economy: the globalization of manufacturing processes and an unprecedented increase in the trade of services and outsourcing across borders. With the onset … Read more
Maturing Microfinance
Two decades ago, most articles on microfinance would have begun with a detailed definition of the concept and an explanation of why the provision of microcredit was fundamental to microenterprise and economic development. Today however, microfinance has become a household term that, generally speaking, describes the provision of financial services (mainly loans, savings and insurance) … Read more
Latin America’s Middle Income Trap
Latin America’s recent economic success carries with it the risk of complacency among the region’s policymakers. Economic growth during 2003–2007 was the highest in the region since the adoption of neoliberal policies in the early 1980s. Most of South America seems to be well on the road to recovery from the global financial crisis, while … Read more
From Tradition to Trade
Uriel Arroyo is a ceramics producer from Capula, a small community in Michoacán, Mexico, whose family-run business used a centuries-old method to craft clay table- and cookware. Arroyo, like roughly 10,000 artisanal ceramacists across Mexico, used lead-oxide glaze to finish his pieces. Now, with the help of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and Mexican public agencies, Arroyo … Read more
The Private Sector and Education
It is early afternoon on an overcast, cold Wednesday in São Paulo. Upon entering the Dr. Alberto Badra state school in the Vila das Belezas neighborhood of São Paulo, we are introduced to Franco, a precocious eight-year-old with a big toothless smile and curly brown hair. Several of his schoolteachers are there, too. Franco has … Read more
Can Education Reduce Violent Crime?
Rising rates of violent crime, especially homicide, have turned Latin America into one of the world’s most insecure regions over the past decade. Data from multiple sources estimate that an average of six people per day are murdered in Honduras, eight in El Salvador and 14 in Guatemala alone. Latin America’s murder rates are currently … Read more
The Three Rs of Obama’s Education Reform
National crises can provide windows of opportunity for leaders to advance their agendas. President Barack Obama’s education initiative, known as “Race to the Top” (RTT), is one such example, plunging the federal government even further into the thicket of education reform and policy. In early 2009, the nation’s economic crisis led to congressional approval of … Read more
Educational Performance and Race in Brazil
Why is there such a pronounced racial gap in access to education and retention rates in Brazil? Finding the answer to that question is essential not only to improving Brazil’s overall educational (and economic) performance, but also to increasing social cohesion as the country seeks to become a major global economic player. Research supports the … Read more
Can You Heal Me Now?
Mobile phone subscriptions have overtaken fixed lines as the preferred method of communication across Latin America and the Caribbean, with penetration rates of almost 90 percent. Some forecasts indicate that subscriptions in the region could grow by 8.2 percent in 2010. According to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), mobile subscriptions globally will surpass the 5 … Read more
Black Medicine
When you’re sick, taking the right medicine is almost as important as finding a good doctor. But what if the medicine is fake? A black market in counterfeit or low-quality drugs is fast becoming the world’s newest health hazard. Although the extent of drug counterfeiting is very difficult to assess, in 2005 Peter Pitts of … Read more
Communications, Collaboration and Technology
Across Latin America, obstacles to health care access are similar. Beds are full, waiting rooms overflow, and treatment delays are common. Creating equitable access to health services requires addressing the ubiquitous challenges of escalating demand, rising citizen expectations and unrelenting pressure to do more with less. One solution is to find better ways of incorporating … Read more
Who’s Covered?
The recent debate over health care reform in the United States has highlighted the impact of poverty, race and labor market position on access to health care. But what about the region? New data from the 2010 AmericasBarometer surveys, covering every country in North and South America plus many in the Caribbean, suggest that, not … Read more
The Mobile Revolution in Rural Health Care
Around the world, mobile phone use is skyrocketing. In Colombia, there are more mobile subscribers per 100 inhabitants than in the United States. In Kenya, more than four out of every ten people are mobile subscribers—up from essentially zero just 10 years ago. And because phones are often shared within families, mobile access is even … Read more
Health Care Goes Local
Decentralization has emerged as a major tool for improving the delivery of health services in Latin America. But has it worked? This is a crucial question for policymakers in the region—and elsewhere—and not only in the health sector. One of the major public policy debates of our time is to what extent decentralization of government … Read more
