Nine Students from War-Torn Burma in Washington DC
Nine rising Juniors from Parami University had internships in Washington DC this summer with nine great organizations. This is their story.
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Sep 209 min read
China's Demographic Future--Updated
We have updated the story published by Scientific American in May 2024. Our short update has just been posted by a think tank in Hong Kong.
Sep 33 min read
My View of the Immigration Issue in 1986--and in 2024
I sent a letter to the Council of Economic Advisors in 1986 taking issue with the Council’s position on immigration. My view hasn’t changed.
Aug 2853 min read
A Radical Approach to Acquiring Land for Major Projects
In December 2015, I presented a paper at a conference in Hong Kong on a radical approach to developing a site in Myanmar as a new city.
Aug 113 min read
The Peace Corps Is Broken: Here Are Ways to Fix It
On 3 April 2024, the DC-based newspaper The Hill published a short version of this co-authored essay. Here is the long version.
Jul 167 min read
One of My Lifetime Best Stories
It starts in India in 1965, I was in the Peace Corps, continues in Bali, and finishes up in Paris. The main character is a French woman.
Jul 217 min read
Settling Estates in France
Two of my distant French cousins died and I ended up being the heir of one estate and settling the other in the absence of a will...
Jun 36 min read
Saving Ukraine
In 2022, I joined a group of ex-US Treasury officials to advise the Ukraine
government on key issues in international finance.
Jun 16 min read
Myanmar Update June 2024
There is only bad news in this update. The military junta started conscripting men for the army, plunging the country into chaos.
May 213 min read
Update on 21 May 2024: Yes, Elizabeth, banking needs to be boring again!
A few weeks ago, I stumbled across an ad from PNC Bank, perhaps embedded in a Google search. It featured the President of PNC Bank...
May 610 min read
China's Demographic Future
This is my lifetime best publishing achievement. I don't expect to ever top it in terms of readership and policy significance.
Apr 176 min read
Stopping the Rich from Getting Richer
The essay in The Atlantic proposes global wealth cap, resonating with my 2016 message to the President of Brookings on wealth inequality.
Apr 62 min read
We Think the Peace Corps Needs to be Fixed
Kevin Quigley and I drafted a 3,000-word essay last summer on "The Future of the Peace Corps". A short op-ed version has just been posted on
Feb 203 min read
What Happened to Our Sense of Community?
There is very little sense of community in my new residence. Does it matter? Is it
related to the creation of the internet?
Nov 10, 20233 min read
Apologizing for My Absence
No new posts for more than two months because of my crazy life of travel and writing. I’m working on some topics of above-average interest.
Sep 7, 20233 min read
The Termessos Phenomenon
Termessos is a city in Turkey that held off an attack by Alexander the Great in 333 BC. This is a story about historical preservation.
Aug 16, 20231 min read
How to fix the World Bank--in 1981
In 1981, I had been working in the US Treasury Department for more than five years on issues related to the roles of the IMF and World Bank.
Jul 25, 20232 min read
Jimmy Brown and the Toothpick
Here is a favorite story from my youth. I told it to a friend in a conversation last week and he urged me to write it up and post it.
Apr 10, 20237 min read
Spring Meetings of the IMF and World Bank
The problems facing the world today seem endless and intractable. Don’t expect any breakthroughs at the IMF/World Bank meetings this week.
Apr 9, 20232 min read
Yes, Elizabeth, banking needs to be boring again!
Last Oct, the Financial Times published my Letter to the Editor suggesting that banking needs to be boring again. Now Senator Warren agrees.
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