The CGD Podcast

Landry Signé, Aubrey Hruby, Judd Devermont, and Gyude Moore on their expectations for the new Prosper Africa initiative and the roles that infrastructure, communication, and the US Development Finance Corporation might play in its impact.

Martha Gyansa-Lutterodt, Director of Technical Coordination at Ghana's Ministry of Health, explains how Ghana's health services have evolved, how they select which medicines to cover, and how to maintain political will for health reform.

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, former President of Liberia and Africa’s first elected female president, on the impact of private sector investment, the urgency of action on climate change, and the resilience of developing countries.

CGD's Ian Mitchell on why looking beyond aid is important for development, how the Commitment to Development Index measures and weighs various development factors, and what’s ahead for the Index. 

World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim on robots in the workplace, multilateral cooperation, and the development potential of blockchain. 

What's going to happen in the world of development in 2018? Will we finally understand how to deal equitably with refugees and migrants? Or how technological progress can work for developing countries? Or what the impact of year two of the Trump Administration will be? Today’s podcast, our final episode of 2017, raises these questions and many more as a multitude of CGD scholars share their insights and hopes for the year ahead.

CGD senior fellow Scott Morris on how the International Development Finance Club institutions could increase their development impact, and, in light of the passage of the BUILD act earlier this year, how the new US Development Finance Corporation can get off to a good start.

Sarah Bermeo, political economist and author of Targeted Development: Industrialized Country Strategy in a Globalizing World, on how rich countries’ motivations for development have evolved, what they mean for developing countries, and where we are now.

Businesses have unique opportunities to help refugees and improve their bottom line at the same time, says CGD senior policy fellow Cindy Huang. All they need is the right policy framework. Get the highlights from Huang’s latest report, “Global Business and Refugee Crises,” a collaboration with the Tent Foundation.

More than 65 million people are forcibly displaced, for on average about ten years. That's the scale of the problem facing Mark Lowcock, the new UN Emergency Relief Coordinator and Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs. This is not only a short-term humanitarian problem but a development issue as well. How should the system to respond? Mark Lowcock joins CGD's president Masood Ahmed to discuss.

China has long been the factory of the world. But as wages there rise, manufacturers are looking to other countries and regions. Meanwhile, African countries have a huge and burgeoning population of young people looking for jobs. So now many wonder—could Africa be the next big destination for manufacturers? And if not, then what? CGD senior fellow Vijaya Ramachandran joins the podcast to discuss a new CGD paper on that very question.

In this episode of new CGD podcast miniseries Sounds Robotic, host Charles Kenny talks with Lant Pritchett about the role of knowledge and technology in economic growth and the problems developing countries face.

King's College London lecturer Alice Evans on how social change happens, the consequences of male bias for developing countries, and the larger takeaways of the "#sausagefest" incident for development experts. 

Former White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough on the state of US immigration policy, the case for refugee resettlement, and national identity.

Yuen Yuen Ang on how to make your data more meaningful, the dangers of big data in cases of oppression, and whether political freedom is really a requirement for technological development.

CGD's Gyude Moore, Amaka Anku of Eurasia Group, and Nonso Obikili of Economic Research Southern Africa on Nigeria's recent border closure. They discuss the history between Nigeria and Benin, the costs of the border closure for people living in poverty, and possible next steps for the Nigerian government.

Cribsheet author and economist Emily Oster on the data behind health recommendations for pregnant women, how to balance children's and parents' needs, and how policymakers can empower parents to make good decisions for their families.  

Gyude Moore, former Minister of Public Works in Liberia and current visiting fellow at CGD, on aid branding, what China does differently, and what innovation could help developing countries save big on infrastructure.

Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya have fled Myanmar for Bangladesh in a matter of weeks. The UN has called the situation “a textbook example of ethnic cleansing.” What can the international community, and especially the US, do about it? Refugees International's Eric Schwartz and CGD's Jeremy Konyndyk have some ideas.

Economist Stephany Griffith-Jones on the role development banks can play in innovation, how they should interact with private actors and governments, and what new institutions can learn from their predecessors.