Christopher Colford: Speed Bumps Along the Road to Competitiveness

Egypt’s Self-Inflicted Limits on Economic Efficiency. It’s an axiom of economic policy: The future belongs to the efficient. In a relentlessly competitive global marketplace, those who manage to get just one step ahead of their rivals are destined to gain

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From Germany to South Africa – The Oppenheimers: Diamonds Are Not Forever

“I’m a philistine.” Nicholas F Oppenheimer, worth some $6.5bn, is not likely to be spotted at a theatre or opera house anytime soon. The vast library of rare antique tomes his grandfather Ernest (1880-1957) lovingly accumulated over a lifetime remains

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World Bank Group President Brings Hopeful Message to Middle East

Jim Yong Kim brings a message of optimism to Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, and Jordan in his first visit to those countries as World Bank Group president. The World Bank Group is helping Jordan and Lebanon cope with the impact of

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Tanzania Could Create Many New Jobs by Harnessing its Rapid Urban Expansion

Tanzania could create large numbers of new, productive jobs for its people, especially young men and women, if policy makers fostered industrial and business policies that catered to the country’s booming cities and their urban populations, according to the World

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UN Reports FDI Hit $1.4 Trillion in 2013, Upward Trend to Continue

Global foreign direct investment is up and expected to rise over the next three years, driven mainly by stronger economies in developed countries, according to a new United Nations report which highlights the key role that transnational corporations and foreign

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Measuring Wealth to Track Sustainability

The new edition of the World Bank’s Little Green Data Book, released on World Environment Day 2014, includes a new indicator called change in wealth per capita for more than 200 countries. The World Bank Group has adopted change in

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African Leaders, Business Community Push for Financing of Priority Regional Infrastructure Projects

Across Sub-Saharan Africa, poor infrastructure is a major bottleneck for sustainable development Signaling a new push and renewed commitment, the Dakar Financing Summit is focusing on regional infrastructure with a view to boosting investment and catalyzing greater cooperation By tackling

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UN Labour Report Shows Solid Return for National Investments in Quality Jobs

Developing countries that invested in quality jobs from the early 2000s grew nearly one percentage point faster every year since 2007 and were better able to weather the economic crisis than comparable economies, according to a new report by the

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Otaviano Canuto, World Bank Group: Macroeconomics and Stagnation – Keynesian-Schumpeterian Wars

Policy makers in the advanced economies at the core of the global financial crisis can make the claim that they prevented a new “Great Depression”. However, recovery since the outbreak of the crisis more than five years ago has been

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Booz & Company’s Ideation Center: Empowering Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East

One of the greatest challenges in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is to bring more women into the workforce. The region has a large number of aspiring, young, and well-educated women who lack exposure to work. Over the

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