By Ethan Wang Oct. 9, 2024 I – Introduction In an era of shrinking government budgets and expanding inequality, philanthropy has re-emerged as a central force in global development. The Global Philanthropy Report (Harvard Kennedy School, 2025)  estimates that private foundations now control over $1.8 trillion in assets , influencing everything from vaccine policy to climate adaptation. Mega-donors — such as the Gates Foundation, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and the Rockefe

By Yuji Fujita Oct. 11, 2024 I – Introduction Infrastructure — roads, ports, water systems, energy grids, and digital networks — has always been more than concrete and steel. It is the physical expression of national ambition. Yet in the 21st century, public investment in infrastructure has paradoxically declined even as global wealth has risen. The World Bank Infrastructure Outlook (2025)  estimates that the world faces a $15 trillion investment gap by 2040 , a shortfall tha

By Aarav Sharma Oct. 13, 2024 I – Introduction Over the past four decades, governments have quietly rewritten the global fiscal order in favor of corporations. Once bound by progressive taxation and social compacts, nations now compete to attract capital by slashing corporate tax rates and offering incentives that erode their own revenue base. The International Monetary Fund Fiscal Monitor (2025)  estimates that corporate tax competition costs governments $600–700 billion ann

By Sarah Li Oct. 15, 2024 I – Introduction For decades, policymakers have treated economic growth as a proxy for gender equality, assuming that expanding labor markets would naturally empower women. Yet despite historic increases in female labor-force participation, structural inequality persists. The International Labour Organization (ILO, 2025)  reports that women’s global labor participation rate remains 27 percentage points below men’s , a gap largely unchanged since 1990

By Shohei Yamamoto Oct. 16, 2024 I – Introduction Public health, once a cornerstone of state legitimacy, is increasingly constrained by fiscal austerity and market logic. The World Health Organization (2025)  estimates that over 70 percent of countries  spend less than 5 percent of GDP on health — below the minimum threshold for universal coverage. Meanwhile, private healthcare expenditures now account for 45 percent of global health spending, up from 32 percent two decades a

By Nikhil Kapoor Oct. 18, 2024 I – Introduction Education has long been seen as the great equalizer — the mechanism through which talent could transcend circumstance. Yet across both developed and developing nations, this promise is eroding. The UNESCO Global Education Monitoring Report (2025)  warns that 260 million children  remain out of school, while tertiary education increasingly functions as a sorting system for privilege rather than a ladder of opportunity. Even in we

By Andrew Wang Oct. 20, 2024 I – Introduction For most of modern history, cities have symbolized mobility — places where migrants could turn labor into livelihood and education into upward mobility. But in the 21st century, the urban promise is fracturing. The United Nations World Urbanization Prospects (2025)  reports that 56 percent of the global population  now lives in cities, projected to reach 68 percent by 2050. Yet inequality within cities is widening faster than betw

By Priya Verma Oct. 21, 2024 I – Introduction Across much of the developed world, the very notion of “labor power” — the ability of workers to influence their wages, hours, and conditions — is eroding. Union membership has fallen to historic lows; collective bargaining coverage in the OECD dropped from 45 percent in 1985 to just 15 percent in 2025  ( OECD Labor Statistics, 2025 ). Real wage growth stagnates even as corporate profits surge. And in emerging economies, informal

By Kenji Sakamoto Oct. 23, 2024 I – Introduction Food security, once considered a question of production, is now a problem of distribution, inequality, and climate resilience. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO, 2025)  reports that more than 783 million people  faced chronic hunger in 2024—an increase of 122 million since 2019. Meanwhile, global agricultural output has reached record highs. The contradiction is startling but telling: the world produces enough food for

By Ivy Zhang Oct. 25, 2024 I – Introduction Climate policy has entered the trade arena. Once confined to emissions targets and renewable subsidies, decarbonization is now enforced through tariffs, border taxes, and carbon-adjustment schemes. The World Trade Organization (2025)  estimates that carbon-related trade measures affect over $1.3 trillion in global exports , as advanced economies seek to penalize carbon-intensive goods and incentivize cleaner production abroad. The m

By Aarush Nair Oct. 27, 2024 I – Introduction In 2025, over 60 countries  — home to nearly one-third of the world’s population — are classified as being in or at high risk of debt distress ( IMF Global Financial Stability Report, 2025 ). What began as pandemic relief and green-investment borrowing has evolved into a systemic crisis: interest rates have surged, debt servicing costs have doubled, and entire nations are devoting more to creditors than to public health or educati

By Yuto Kobayashi Oct. 29, 2024 I – Introduction Democracy has entered its algorithmic age. What television once did for image and what polling did for persuasion, artificial intelligence now does for prediction. The Pew Research Center (2025)  reports that 68 percent of political campaign spending in the U.S. and Europe now goes to digital advertising and AI-driven voter analytics , up from just 12 percent in 2016. Political parties and governments are increasingly outsourci

By Maya Brown Oct. 31, 2024 I – Introduction Few issues embody the intersection of politics and economics as starkly as housing. Once viewed as a social right, housing has evolved into a financial instrument — a store of wealth, a speculative asset, and increasingly, a symbol of generational inequality. The OECD Housing Outlook (2025)  reports that median home prices in advanced economies have risen over 220 percent since 2000 , while real wages grew by only 29 percent . The

By Daniel Lin Nov. 2, 2024 I – Introduction Cyberattacks are no longer fringe disruptions; they are macroeconomic shocks. The World Bank Digital Economy Report (2025)  estimates that cyber incidents drained $9.8 trillion  from global GDP last year — a figure larger than the combined economies of Japan and Germany. Ransomware campaigns now paralyze hospitals, ports, and energy grids, while state-sponsored intrusions target elections and supply chains. Yet cybersecurity spendin

By Ishita Sharma Nov. 4, 2024 I – Introduction For decades, oil defined geopolitics. Now, lithium — the soft, silvery metal that powers electric vehicle (EV) batteries and renewable storage systems — is becoming its 21st-century successor. The International Energy Agency (2025)  estimates global lithium demand will grow over 420% by 2035 , driven by electrification and climate commitments. As the world pivots from fossil fuels to clean energy, a new map of power is emerging —

By Ayaka Tanaka Nov. 6, 2024 I – Introduction Populism has moved from fringe rhetoric to mainstream governance. Between 2010 and 2024, the share of the global population living under populist or nationalist leadership rose from 12 percent to 43 percent , according to the V-Dem Institute (2025) . While political scientists often frame this as a cultural backlash, its roots are fundamentally economic: stagnant real wages, fiscal austerity, and widening wealth inequality. This p

By Leo Wu Nov. 8, 2024 I – Introduction Public health systems worldwide face a paradox: rising costs and aging populations, yet shrinking workforces and fiscal capacity. The World Health Organization (2025)  estimates global healthcare expenditures will surpass $13.3 trillion by 2030 , with administrative inefficiency alone consuming nearly 25% of total spending . Against this backdrop, artificial intelligence (AI) is emerging not only as a diagnostic tool but as an economic

By Krishan Mehta Nov. 10, 2024 I – Introduction The era of hyper-globalization is giving way to strategic fragmentation. Since 2022, the volume of trade affected by sanctions and export controls has tripled, covering over 12 percent of global merchandise flows , according to the World Trade Organization (2025) . From semiconductor restrictions on China to energy embargoes on Russia and rare-earth controls from Africa, supply chains once governed by efficiency are now redesign

By Takashi Sato Nov. 12, 2024 I – Introduction Cities are heating up faster than the planet. According to NASA’s Urban Climate Report (2025) , global urban areas are warming 29% faster than rural regions , largely due to dense construction, vehicle emissions, and the heat-absorbing nature of concrete. The result: rising health costs, reduced worker productivity, and surging electricity demand. Despite the clear risks, public investment in heat-resilience infrastructure — park

By Alice Zhao Nov. 14, 2024 I – Introduction The carbon market was once hailed as capitalism’s answer to climate change. Yet by 2025, the credibility of global carbon offset systems is collapsing. A report from Carbon Market Watch (2025)  revealed that 38 % of credits traded on voluntary exchanges represented no measurable emissions reduction , while the European Environment Agency  confirmed that the EU ETS (Emissions Trading System) experienced a 23 % oversupply of credits