Daily Policy Digest
International Issues
| FINANCIAL DEVELOPMENT BENEFITS POOR The impact of financial development on poverty is quite large, say experts... |
| THREE'S A CHARM Amid concerns of declining birth rates, middle-class French women with three children could see their family allowances increased to $1,250 a month, say observers... |
| DANGEROUSLY UNIQUE Statistically, a "normal" human being is poor, lives in oppressive physical, social and political conditions and is ruled by an unresponsive, corrupt government, says Moises Naim... |
| THE SPAM DIVIDE In rich countries, unsolicited e-mail, or spam, is a nuisance, but in poorer countries, it is a threat to development, says Elisabeth Eaves... |
| "FAILED STATES" FAIL BECAUSE OF TOO MUCH GOVERNMENT POWER It is the presence of centralized power and the lack of individual-based rights that creates insecurity in "failed states," says Alvaro Vargas Llosa... |
| HUMAN TRAFFICKING Slave labor produces $32 billion in profits annually, says David Feingold... |
| ECONOMIC LIBERTY MOVES ECONOMIES Countries that are economically free tend to grow more rapidly and achieve higher levels of income than those that are less free, say James Gwartney and Robert Lawson... |
| UNDERWORKED FRENCH CAN'T AFFORD THEIR PAID VACATIONS Nearly 40 percent of the French do not go on vacation -- nearly half because they cannot afford it, according to study... |
| GO-GO YEARS ON THE GANGES By 2050, India will have the largest population in the world -- 1.6 billion versus China's 1.4 billion, says Paul Johnson... |
| CAREERS CREATE "AGING SOCIETY" IN S. KOREA South Korean women are working and delaying marriage and child bearing, causing a birth dearth, say observers... |
