...Ricardo Hausmann of Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government has made it his life’s work to understand why some economies grow faster than others, and therefore which countries are likely to grow next. He believes the answer lies in economic complexity. To paraphrase, countries that develop complex industries with transferable skills are able to grow much faster. Countries that do nothing more than extract raw materials and don’t diversify (like Hausmann’s native Venezuela), have little chance of growth. Those that develop know-how...
It is now customary to blame economics or economists for many of the world’s ills. Critics hold economic theories responsible for rising inequality, a dearth of good jobs, financial fragility, and low growth, among other things. But although criticism may spur economists to greater efforts, the concentrated onslaught against the profession has unintentionally diverted attention from a discipline that should shoulder more of the blame: public policy.
Economics and public policy are closely related, but they are not the...
The United States Embassy in Addis Ababa is set to help kick start a three year initiative with Harvard University’s Center for International Development to help identify opportunities for an economic growth and help identify its challenges.
Michael Raynor, US Ambassador to Ethiopia and a champion of reforms initiated by the government of Abiy Ahmed (PhD), calling it, “Ambitious and essential economic reforms,” announced the new initiative that is expected to be ledby Ricardo Haussmann (PhD), who was recently in...
Michael Raynor U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia at the Launch of the Advancing Economic Diversification in Ethiopia Project Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa August 23, 2019
(As prepared for delivery)
Your Excellencies,
It’s a great pleasure and honor for me to be here this morning to highlight an important centerpiece in the partnership between Ethiopia and the United States in support of Ethiopia’s ambitious and essential economic...
...Which countries will manage to notch the fastest growth over the next decade? Nobody can know for certain, but Harvard’s Center for International Development has gone to great lengths to try to find out. Its key insight is that growth hinges on economic complexity. The more different skills a population has developed, and the more adaptable its economy, the better its chances of expansion. The more dependent it remains on one industry, the harder it is to achieve growth. It measures this phenomenon in a fascinating and public...
Ricardo Hausmann and Frank Muci - Americas Quarterly
On August 2017, the White House imposed financial sanctions on Venezuela, limiting its access to U.S. financial markets. Shortly after, Venezuela’s economy and oil sector collapsed. Economists Mark Weisbrot, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, and Jeffrey Sachs conclude that the sanctions caused the collapse and human suffering that followed. Is this persuasive?...
Indonesians head to the polls for presidential and legislative elections on April 17, in what is traditionally billed as a clash of titans in the world’s third largest democracy. This time around, voters will find familiar names on the presidential ballot, as Joko Widodo, or Jokowi, faces Prabowo Subianto in the same billing as the 2014 election, with the one exception of Jokowi now having the incumbency of the presidency behind him. If current polls hold, the election appears less of a rematch than a watered-...
Authors: Frank Neffke, Sid Ravinutala, and Bruno Zuccolo
Tourism is an important sector in the global economy. Today, 10.4% of the world’s GDP and 7% of the world’s total exports come from tourism. The industry is worth over US$ 1.1 trillion. The money earned from expenditures by foreigners are...
Thousands of angry demonstrators in Venezuela took to the streets again this week to protest the government of President Nicolás Maduro, two weeks after he was sworn in for a second term following an election that many critics say was rigged. The protests were organized by opposition leader Juan Guaidó, president of the National Assembly, who has declared himself acting president.
Once one of the richest countries in Latin America with the world’s largest oil reserves, Venezuela has been in political, economic, and...
To support the growth strategy of Albania, to improve employment rates and the general well-being of its society, the Government of Albania (GOA) has been working since fall 2017 to develop a mechanism that could ensure timely preparation of needed investment projects and their financing under adequate conditions.
After a thorough due diligence process during 2018, and careful evaluation of different...