Oasis or Mirage? The Costs of a Sustainable City

Jun 21, 2011
Masdar City sounds like a utopia. Located in the deserts outside Abu Dhabi, the capital of the U.A.E., it was envisioned as the world's first car...

In Egypt, Affordable Housing is the Price of Love

Jun 21, 2011
Think affordable housing is just a matter of number crunching and government regulation? How about sex? OK, so maybe not just "sex," but in Egy...

The Changing Role of Labor Unions in Egypt

Jun 20, 2011
Before the uprisings in Egypt, unions had an uncomfortably close relationship with the government. Now, with newer, independent unions taking the...

Hernando de Soto on the Middle East's 'Informal' Revolution

Jun 20, 2011
Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto is best known for the big, paradigm-shifting idea of his 2000 book: The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Tr...

Egyptian Entrepreneurs Face Red Tape

Jun 20, 2011
For most Egyptian entrepreneurs, starting a business is like waiting in line at the DMV: Numerous forms, endless lines and a tangle of red tape m...

The Gold ATM Index

May 26, 2011
This morning, David Brancaccio reported on consumer confidence in Egypt, as well as in the region at large. He mentioned the Gold-To-Go ATM in A...

Unlocking Egypt's Economic Future

May 25, 2011
Over the next month, while David Brancaccio is doing stories from Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, the Economy 4.0 blog will be looking at the...

For public good, not for profit.

Et tu, OECD?

May 24, 2011
You would have thought the venerable promoters of the global economy at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development would have been...

Financial Forecasting: Beating the Storm

May 19, 2011
The Office for Financial Research, or OFR, is a new government outfit that aims to forecast financial storms before they happen....

Video: Carmen Reinhart on Debt Overhang and More

Apr 18, 2011
Next in our series of video interviews from the Institute for New Economic Thinking conference: Carmen Reinhart, fellow at the Peterson Institute...