Economic Growth

The news that Afghanistan's mineral wealth could exceed $1 trillion is an important opportunity for both Kabul and Washington to change the narrative from counterinsurgency to locally controlled sustainable development.

By doing so, the government of Hamid Karzai and the Obama administration can leverage a range of converging interests in South and Central Asia to put Afghanistan and the region finally on the only viable path to security -- rising economic prosperity in the larger region.

The limitations imposed by the role of the states in the U.S. unemployment insurance system are the reason why a majority of workers are not protected and why even insured workers receive inadequate protection. Steven Attewell writes: “Our reconstruction of the unemployment insurance system should start from three basic principles. First, unemployment is a national problem for our single, national economy, and requires a nation-wide system to respond to it.

The convenience of electronic payments is nothing short of a miracle. Though we're not quite living in a cashless society, we're getting closer all the time. I've noticed that I've grown increasingly frustrated by coins, a technology that's been with us for thousands of years. They seem somehow primitive, not to mention unwieldy.

When the White House announced its National Security Strategy last month, it titled it A Blueprint for Pursuing the World That We Seek. A better title might have been The Fun Is Definitely Over. The document used the phrase "hard choices" three times, called for "a disciplined approach to setting priorities" and predicted "trade-offs among competing programs and activities." The nature of those trade-offs was never spelled out, but the implication was clear: America doesn't have as much money and power as we once thought.

The U.S. economy is in trouble. Disappointing employment growth figures show that mass unemployment may be with us for some time. The stimulus spending in the U.S. was far too small and depended too much on tax cuts. State budget crises that result primarily from the Wall Street-created global crash, not statehouse mistakes, may yet cripple the economy, as the effect of federal stimulus spending wears off.

After years debating its effectiveness and sustainability, microinsurance may soon be as attainable as microcredit to low-income people in developing countries. LeapFrog Investments, the world’s first microinsurance private-equity fund, just announced it has raised nearly $140 million to invest in microfinance and insurance companies in Africa and Asia. Their goal is to provide small-scale insurance to as many as 25 million poor people. LeapFrog surprised microinsurance skeptics when it surpassed its original investment goal of $100 million within just 18 months. It is now the largest microinsurance fund in the world.

Not entirely unlike insurance policies in the US and other industrialized nations, the aim of microinsurance is to protect the assets of low-income businesses, individuals and families from economic shocks brought on by illness/death, accidents, natural disasters, poor crop yields, etc. As an effective risk management policy, microinsurance allows poor people the ability to make productive investments such as in small businesses, education, or healthcare, with the peace of mind that they won’t lose everything due to a death in the family or a devastating flood. Unfortunately, penurious people in the developing world are more prone to health issues, unsafe work environments and natural disasters, exacerbated by global warming.

This all sounds quite ideal, but will it work?

The New York City Department of Consumer Affairs is housed on some rented floors near Wall Street, amid great banks that profited as millions of American consumers bought toxic loans and catalyzed a recession that drove further millions out of work. While the department doesn't have jurisdiction over the big banks, it is often charged with cleaning up the messes they create.

Delivering the 2010 commencement address at West Point, President Obama articulated the challenge of his presidency, saying, "Our future will be defined by what we build."

On June 9, 2010, New America Foundation hosted a conversation with Robert Kuttner and Simon Johnson on Why Obama Can’t Afford to Gamble Away Wall Street Reform. Steve Clemons, director of the American Strategy Program of New America Foundation and publisher of The Washington Note, moderated the event.

The Great Recession has battered pensions and home values, leaving millions of Americans facing an uncertain retirement. "But attributing this grim situation solely to the recession would be misleading," writes Lauren Damme.