Economic growth provides sustainable results.
Experience shows that economic growth is a critical factor in reducing poverty. During the 1990s, developing countries that successfully integrated into the global economy saw per capita income increases averaging 5 percent annually. Countries that limited their participation in the global economy saw their economies decline. Through investments in trade, infrastructure, micro-enterprise, agriculture and the regulatory environment, countries can get on the path to job creation and sustainable growth.
Browse through the links below for resources on the economy and foreign assistance. Please note: we're still adding to these sections!
Articles:
AFRICA: Aid For Trade Could Help Producers in Poor Countries
Author: Sarah McGregor
Sarah McGregor reports on Aid for Trade in Africa. Aid for Trade is aid from rich states used to improve the ability of poor nations to sell their goods abroad. Read on to see how Aid for Trade complements and complicates economic support to developing countries.
Link to Full Article
Anticipating the Future: A Political Agenda for Global Economic Governance
Author: Colin I. Bradford, Jr.
Visiting fellow at the Brookings Institute calls for a strengthening of global economic governance. He lays out a political agenda as to how to address future economic issues in the international arena.
Link to Full Article
Policy Watch: Debt Relief
Authors: Serkan Arslanalp and Peter Blair Henry
Arslanalp and Henry argue that the Gleneagles summit of July 2005 and its agreement to forgive $55 billion in debt will have little effect on the targeted countries. They explore past deft relief efforts to reach their conclusion.
Link to Full Article
The Other Costs of High Debt in Poor Countries: Growth, Policy Dynamics, and Institutions
Authors: Todd J. Moss and Hanley S. Chiang
Moss and Chiang of the World Bank analyze how high debt undermines donor selectivity and places burdens on poor countries’ public management, hindering growth and effectiveness of development programs.
Link to Full Article
World Bank Study Faults Its Work in Rural Africa
The World Bank evaluates that it needs to improve its rural aid initiatives in the developing world.
Authors: Celia W. Dugger
Link to Full Article
Books:
Banker to the Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty (Paperback)
by Muhammad Yunus
Link to Homepage | Link to World Press Review
The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries Are Failing and What Can Be Done About It
by Paul Collier
Link to Oxford Website
Capital and Collusion:
The Political Logic of Global Economic Development
by Hilton L. Root
Link to Princeton University Press
Development as Freedom (Hardcover)
by Amartya Sen
Link to Amazon | Link to Harvard Homepage | Link to Nobel Prize Site
Development as a Human Right - Legal, Political, and Economic Dimensions
Edited by Bård A. Andreassen, Edited by Stephen P. Marks, Foreword by Louise Arbour
Link to Harvard Homepage
Economic Justice in an Unfair World: Toward a Level Playing Field
by Ethan B. Kapstein
Link to Princeton University Press | Link to Kapstein Homepage
The Elusive Quest for Growth: Economists' Adventures and Misadventures in the Tropics (Paperback)
by William Easterly
Link to Amazon | Link to Brookings Homepage
The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time
by Jeffrey Sachs (Paperback - Feb 28, 2006)
Link to Columbia University
Fair Trade for All: How Trade Can Promote Development (Initiative for Policy Dialogue Series C) (Hardcover)
by Joseph E. Stiglitz
Link to Amazon | Link to Columbia Univeresity
Globalization, Economic Development and the Role of the State (Paperback)
by Ha-Joon Chang (Author)
Link to Amazon
Good Intentions: Pledges of Aid for Postconflict Recovery
by Shepard Forman, Stewart Patrick
Link to Publisher | Link to NYU
The History of Development: From Western Origins to Global Faith
by Gilbert Rist
Link to JSTOR review
The IMF and Economic Development
By James Raymond Vreeland
Link to Cambridge University Press
Just and Lasting Change: When Communities Own Their Futures (Paperback)
by Daniel Taylor (Author), Carl E. Taylor (Author)
Link to Amazon
Making Poor Nations Rich: Entrepreneurship and the Process of Economic Development (Stanford Economics & Finance)
by Benjamin Powell
Link to Independent Institute
NEPAD: Towards Africa's Development or Another False Start?
by Ian Taylor, Lynne Rienner
Link to Foreign Affairs
Prosperity and Violence: The Political Economy of Development (Paperback)
by Robert H. Bates (Author)
Link to Amazon | Link to Harvard Homepage
Sovereign Debt at the Crossroads: Challenges and Proposals for Resolving the Third World Debt Crisis
by Chris Jochnick (Editor), Fraser A. Preston (Editor)
Link to Carnegie Council | Link to Oxfam
Institutions:
Accion International
The mission of ACCION International is to give people the tools they need to work their way out of poverty. By providing "micro" loans, financial services and business training to poor women and men who start their own businesses, ACCION's partner microfinance organizations help people work their own way up the economic ladder, with dignity and pride. With capital, people can grow their own businesses.
ActionAid International USA
ActionAid International’s mission is to work in partnership with poor and excluded people who are fighting for a world without poverty in which their voices are heard and have an impact on the policies of government and major private institutions. It advocates for reforms that speak directly to decision makers on key policies such as poverty reduction, trade, education, agriculture, and the expenditure of federal, IMF, and World Bank funds.
The African Development Bank
The African Development Bank (AfDB) is a premier financial development institution dedicated to providing quality assistance to its fifty-three (53) Regional Member Countries for economic growth and sustainable development.
Alternative Information and Development Centre
The AIDC contributes to the development of organizations that challenge the dominant global economic system through research, popular education, campaigning, and coalition building. It focuses on globalization, Third World debt, and other issues relating to human rights and economy.
American Institutes for Research – International Development
AIR’s International Development Program seeks to enhance the capacity of developing countries to improve their quality of life through education and social development. In collaboration with local partners AIR seeks to: (1) ensure children’s equitable access to all levels of education, (2) improve the quality and relevance of education, and (3) empower individuals, communities, and institutions as agents of social and behavioral change.
Bank Information Center
BIC partners with civil society in developing and transition countries to influence the World Bank and other international financial institutions (IFIs) to promote social and economic justice and ecological sustainability. BIC is an independent, non-profit, non-governmental organization that advocates for the protection of rights, participation, transparency, and public accountability in the governance and operations of the World Bank, regional development banks, and IMF.
Center for Economic and Policy Research
CEPR was established in 1999 to promote democratic debate on the most important economic and social issues that affect people's lives. CEPR conducts both professional research and public education so that the public is better prepared to choose among the various policy options. The professional research is oriented towards filling important gaps in the understanding of particular economic and social problems, or the impact of specific policies, both domestically and globally. As part of its public education initiative, CEPR utilizes research findings and analysis to challenge the myths, assumptions, policies and institutions that perpetuate economic and social inequality.
Center for Global Development – Economic Growth
The Center has committed itself to improving the understanding of the relationship between development and economic growth. Though growth is a necessary condition for development, not all growth benefits the poor. Senior Fellow Peter Timmer leads CGD research which explores strategies for ensuring that economic growth is “pro-poor,” and that agencies such as the Millennium Challenge Account encourage growth that benefits all economic sectors
Citizens Trade Campaign
Citizens Trade Campaign (CTC) is a national coalition of labor unions, environmentalists, religious organizations and farm and consumer groups advocating at the national and grassroots level for social and environmental justice in international trade policy. CTC's member organizations strongly oppose the current NAFTA model of international trade agreements, which serves narrow business interests at the expense of workers, consumers, small businesses, the environment, and the poor majority in the developing world.
The Development Group for Alternative Policies
The Development Group for Alternative Policies assists in the promotion of economic justice across the developing world by helping to maximize control by poor communities and sectors over their own development. It was founded on the principle of the right to self-determination and on the belief that local knowledge is indispensable to the shaping of sound development policies, programs and projects relevant to local needs and conditions. The Development GAP’s focus both on the active participation of organized civil society in economic programming and on the accountability of U.S. and global institutions, and address these policy instruments in their work in Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, Asia and Central Europe.
Gates Foundation - Global Development
The Gates Foundation Global Development Program works with motivated partners to create opportunities for people to life themselves out of poverty and hunger. The Gates Foundation supports efforts to help small farmers improve crop production and market access, facilitates access to financial services for the poor, and supports free public access to computers connected to the Internet. They also support a range of learning opportunities, including potential new areas of long-term giving, and they respond to emergencies through Special Initiatives grant making.
GlobalWorks Foundation
The GlobalWorks Foundation is a nonprofit organization that exists to improve the lives of people in poor communities around the world through projects addressing conditions related to globalization.
The Trade, Aid and Security Coalition (TASC) is a nonprofit project of the GlobalWorks Foundation that builds innovative partnerships between leading NGOs, business and government, educates opinion leaders, and brings significant depth and experience on international trade and economic policy to bear on global poverty issues. It focuses on areas such as economic development, global security, rule of law and environmental protection.
Grameen Bank
Grameen Bank (GB) has reversed conventional banking practice by removing the need for collateral and created a banking system based on mutual trust, accountability, participation and creativity. At GB, credit is a cost effective weapon to fight poverty and it serves as a catalyst in the over all development of socio-economic conditions of the poor who have been kept outside the banking orbit on the ground that they are poor and hence not bankable.
International Monetary Fund
The IMF is an international organization of 185 member countries. It was established to promote international monetary cooperation, exchange stability, and orderly exchange arrangements; to foster economic growth and high levels of employment; and to provide temporary financial assistance to countries to help ease balance of payments adjustment.
Mercy Corps – Economic Development
Mercy Corps’ economic programs, ranging from building roads to making $60 million in loans, alleviate poverty and give people the tools they need to build sustainable economies.
Millennium Challenge Corporation
The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) is a United States Government corporation designed to work with some of the poorest countries in the world. Established in January 2004, MCC is based on the principle that aid is most effective when it reinforces good governance, economic freedom and investments in people. MCC’s mission is to reduce global poverty through the promotion of sustainable economic growth.
Opportunity International
Opportunity International is dedicated to the needs and well being of the poorest of the working poor – that’s what Opportunity International is all about. Opportunity international provides small loans -- sometimes as little as $50 -- as well as banking, insurance and other financial services that allow poor entrepreneurs to start or expand a business, develop a steady income, provide nutritious meals and education for their children and create jobs for their neighbors.
Results for Development Institute
Results for Development Institute is an independent international group dedicated to reducing poverty and improving human welfare in low- and middle-income countries, with a focus on the most disadvantaged and vulnerable. Its mission is to encourage high-impact investments in poor people by supporting innovative financing arrangements that reduce market, government, and institutional barriers and influencing international agendas relevant to these issues.
USAID – Economic Growth and Trade
USAID economic growth and trade programs provide support both to government and private sector partners. Economic growth and trade programs are closely integrated with other programs that support democracy and governance, sound management of the environment, increased agricultural output, and, of course, education and health.
UN Development Program
UNDP is the UN's global development network, an organization advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. UNDP is on the ground in 166 countries, working with them on their own solutions to global and national development challenges. As they develop local capacity, they draw on the people of UNDP and its wide range of partners.
Women’s Edge coalition
The mission of the Women’s Edge Coalition is to advocate international economic policies and human rights that support women worldwide in ending poverty in their lives, communities, and nations. The Women's Edge Coalition offers positive alternatives to current policies and pushes for innovative aid programs to ensure women around the world are not forgotten. By revising the process of economic and trade negotiations, both trade promoters and the world’s poorest women and people can benefit.
World Bank
The World Bank is a vital source of financial and technical assistance to developing countries around the world. The World Bank provides low-interest loans, interest-free credit and grants to developing countries for education, health, infrastructure, communications and many other purposes.