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Breaking the Gridlock on Global Labor Mobility

Increased labor mobility offers potentially huge gains for the developing and developed world, but migration is massively unpopular in rich countries. CGD non-resident fellow Lant Pritchett has proposed a solution that is beneficial to poor people and potentially politically acceptable to rich country voters: temporary legal work programs negotiated bilaterally, with rich countries certifying labor shortages in specific industries and labor-sending countries ensuring that temporary workers return home.

Pritchett's proposal is described in a CGD brief: Bilateral Guest Worker Agreements: A win-win solution for rich countries and poor people in the developing world and further elaborated in his controversial book, Let Their People Come Breaking the Gridlock on Global Labor Mobility.

Submit a question now for Lant to answer here on Thursday, May 17th at noon EDT.

Lant Pritchett

What's Next for the IMF in Latin America? Ask CGD

IMF lending to Latin America has practically stopped due to large private capital inflows, macroeconomic stability and the large foreign reserves in many countries. Some countries have paid their IMF debts in advance and are preparing to create alternative regional financial institutions. This week CGD senior fellow Liliana Rojas-Suarez will convene the Latin America Shadow Financial Regulatory Committee, a group of former senior finance officials from the region, to explore future roles for the IMF in the region.

The group will present their conclusions on Thursday and on Friday, April 13, at noon EST. Liliana will answer your questions live online, here, at Ask CGD. Submit a question to be answered this Friday.

Liliana Rojas-Suarez

Globalization and Inequality

Globalization is creating fresh opportunities for hundreds of millions of people. But the gap between richest and poorest countries is widening and inequality within many countries is increasing. CGD president Nancy Birdsall will testify this week before a U.S. Congressional committee on ways that the U.S. can help to support fair growth in Latin America, where inequality, long a problem, is getting worse.

On Friday, March 30th at 11am, Nancy will answer your questions live-online here at Ask CGD. You can ask a question now or anytime up-to and during the live interview. (You can learn more before you ask a question.)

Nancy Birdsall

Todd Moss

African Development: Making Sense of the Issues and Actors

ASK CGD is an online interview tool that offers you an opportunity to join the conversation by posing questions to CGD researchers about their areas of expertise.

For our first interview, senior fellow Todd Moss will be online Thursday, March 8th, from 12:00-pm-1:00pm, answering your questions about his new book, African Development: Making Sense of the Issues and Actors, and other aspects of development in Africa.

Tony Kopetchny

Lawrence MacDonald

Are developed countries going to contribute funding to counteract the effects of climate change on African nations

Are developed countries going to contribute funding to counteract the negative effects of climate change on African countries' development?

Are their emerging industries in Latin America that the IMF is targeting for loans and technical assistance?

Are there any NEW theories under consideration to end poverty in the third World?

Botswana is always held up as an African success story. What makes it so unique?