One Big Thing Mike Johnson Seems to Get
One Big Thing Mike Johnson Seems to Get
If you are a regular reader of this newsletter, you know I’ve been a Mike Johnson skeptic.
I thought House Democrats acted
The Guardian view on debt and developing countries: time to offer some relief | Editorial
Many low-income nations are having to spend more on interest payments than vital sustainability goals. That needs to change
Blighted by the effects of global heating, beset by food insecurity and rising poverty, and hobbled by dollar-denominated debt that leaves no fiscal room for manoeuvre, some of the world’s poorest nations are enduring a perfect storm. In the wake of Covid and then the war in Ukraine, inflation and high interest rates have tipped many over the edge: between 2020 and 2023 there were 18 sovereign defaults in 10 developing countries – more than in the previous two decades. Others are either in debt distress or close to it.
As the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund hold their annual spring meetings in Washington this week, this dismal state of affairs should be at the top of delegates’ agendas. Prior to the pandemic, the 2020s had been earmarked as a transformative decade – one in which developing nations would make vital progress towards climate targets and eliminating extreme poverty and hunger. Instead, due to events beyond those countries’ control, there has been what a World Bank report this week described as a “great reversal”. In countries classified as eligible for grants and loans from the bank’s International Development Association (IDA), a quarter of the population is now surviving on less than $2.15 a day – the global definition of poverty.
The One Thing Parents Can Control
As parents, we cannot shield our sons and daughters from the world’s cruelty or our failures, but we can try to counter those things.
Russia-Ukraine war live: world ‘dangerously close to a nuclear accident’ amid Zaporizhzhia attacks
Head of IAEA issues warning as Ukraine and Russia trade accusations over Europe’s biggest nuclear plantAs we reported in our opening summary, Ukraine’s UN ambassador,
Ukraine war briefing: attacks on nuclear plant are Russian ‘false flag’, Kyiv tells UN security council
Zaporizhzhia ‘getting dangerously close to a nuclear accident’ says IAEA chief, as Russians and Ukrainians trade accusations. What we know on day 783See all our