All Blog Posts
Member blogs include thematic articles of 600-800 words on books or research by members, or human interest stories by members. To submit a thematic blog write to the relevant TG chair; for human interest blogs write to 1818society@wbgalumni.org, with “Blog Proposal” in the subject line.
| Title | Author | Publication Date | Content | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The New China, its people. My experience 30 years on the ground. Vignettes. Part 1 | Hernan Levy | Apr 27, 2025 | My World Bank experience working on China is unique: first, I started working on China in 1983, barely two years after the Bank commenced operations there, second, I worked on... | Read More |
| Embracing Change: A Midlife Transition from the World Bank to Holistic Health | Nevin Turk | Mar 14, 2025 | I wrote this blog to inspire those wrestling with midlife transitions or early retirement, wondering if it’s worth pursuing passions long deferred—just as I did. Over six years ago, I... | Read More |
| Smile – You are in Sri Lanka! | Heidi Hennrich-Hanson | Mar 11, 2025 | 15 years after a 30 year long civil war, the pervasive smiles on Sri Lankans’ faces may reflect the deep cultural grounding and recognition of the country’s natural riches and... | Read More |
| Risk and Resilience in the Era of Climate Change — a review | Nalin M Kishor | Jan 10, 2025 | Rapid and unpredictable climate changes pose perils that are multifaceted and affect every part of our planet. The major risks run from food scarcity, health threats to humans from air... | Read More |
| Why Nations Fail – Power, Prosperity, and Poverty | Richard Cambridge | Nov 22, 2024 | America held its national elections on November 5 and answered a BIG Question “ Where to America?” The electorate decided to return a former President with the avowed intention to... | Read More |
| The Role of Irrigation in Assuring Food & Nutrition Security | Herve Plusquellec & Preeti Ahuja | Nov 19, 2024 | The recently published document “Retrospective on lending for irrigation: 70 years of Bank Experience” does not address in an explicit manner a major issue confronting the world: a burgeoning food... | Read More |
| Great wines and more in Northern Italy! | Kevin Cleaver | Nov 4, 2024 | When Maria Nikolov and I saw the announcement by the 1818 Society of a Great wines of Northern Italy tour, we signed up immediately. We also wondered how can it... | Read More |
| A Summer ‘s Wintry Hiking Trip in Austria | Anis Dani | Oct 11, 2024 | The reunion of the German-Austrian-Swiss (DACH) chapter in Vienna in early September 2024 ended with a delightful hike climbing beautiful Kahlenberg to hike through vineyards and ultimately go to a... | Read More |
| Kofi and the UN Did it! Can Ajay and the WBG do it? | Richard Cambridge | Oct 11, 2024 | In late September, my spouse and I visited our Alma Mater Macalester College to participate in the Macalester Festival, including a session on the Kofi Annan Institute for Global Citizenship... | Read More |
| World Bank Budget Increases by 6% in Real Terms in FY25 For More Country Engagement and Supervision Support | Bill Katzenstein | Sep 27, 2024 | The World Bank (IBRD/IDA) administrative budget was approved at $3,498 million for FY25, a sizable rise from the $3,170 million authorization for FY24. Of the increase of $328 million, $190 million (the 6% ‘real’... | Read More |
| Bad Economic Ideas Never Die in America, They Thrive in Election Times | Istvan Dobozi | Sep 20, 2024 | The Nobel-winning economist Paul Krugman famously claimed once that bad economic ideas simply refuse to die. The ongoing 2024 presidential election campaign validates this point on both sides of the... | Read More |
| Nag and Kohli say Institutions are Important for Good Governance. How about the WBG? | Richard Cambridge | Sep 20, 2024 | I always reflect on my motivations for selecting a particular book to read especially when there are choices. In the case of the 2023 book “From Here to Denmark. The Importance... | Read More |
| Hike to Everest Base Camp | Jun Zhang | Aug 5, 2024 | In March 2024, I hiked with a friend to Everest Base Camp (EBC) in Nepal. The classical journey to EBC starts by flying from Kathmandu to Lukla, where you pick... | Read More |
| For the Blessings of Jupiter and Venus – A Debut Novel | Varun Gauri | Jul 26, 2024 | Even as a researcher in DEC, I’ve always been interested in stories. My early critique of the market-based Chilean social programs of the 1980s focused on dissonant narratives among various... | Read More |
| Driving Digital Transformation in Developing Nations: Case Studies | Nagy Hanna | Jul 11, 2024 | The digital revolution is creating unprecedented opportunities and challenges for economic development. How did countries respond? What roles did the governments, enterprises and civil societies play in energizing and governing... | Read More |
| A Trip to Remember | Katia Tabash | Jun 27, 2024 | Sitting at the finish line of a small 2,000-meter lake-turned-racecourse in Lucerne, Switzerland, my husband and I waited to watch our son Christian – hopefully – qualify for the Olympics... | Read More |
| Turkey’s Economic Odyssey Since 2000 | Tanju Yurukoglu | Jun 19, 2024 | In October 2023, I published a book entitled Turkey's Economic Odyssey Since 2000: From Ascent to Turmoil [1] reviewing economic policies and performance in Turkey since 2000. The book was... | Read More |
| Economic Development in the Digital Age | Nagy Hanna | Jun 11, 2024 | How did the World Bank respond to the digital revolution in terms of policies and investments in developing countries? Much has been published on the digital revolution as it is... | Read More |
| The American economy itself feels fine, but voters feel differently | Istvan Dobozi | May 27, 2024 | The strength of the economy is a time-honored predictor of presidential job approval and re-election chances. In the post-WWII period, only three presidents – Jimmy Carter, Herbert H.W. Bush and... | Read More |
| Chile under Neoliberalism | Andrés Solimano & Gabriela Zapata-Román | Apr 16, 2024 | In our book, Chilean Economic Development under Neoliberalism, we examine Chile's economic, social, and development policies over the past six decades. The focal point is the enduring influence of the neoliberal... | Read More |