News: ICT-related News

Last week, the development economics world was shaken by an open clash between two of its most distinguished luminaries—Amartya Sen and Jagdish Bhagwati. One is a Nobel Prize winner in the field of economics, and the other is widely believed to be worthy of one.  

There is a saying if you live in Asia and don’t work in public service, you will stop working only when you die.  According to the United Nations (UN 2008), many of the poor are older persons living in rural areas due to low and insufficient lifetime earnings. 

Picture this: rapid urbanization and massive infrastructure development and people trapped in outdated polluting transportation, escalating environmental degradation and deforestation, rising potable water shortages and food security concerns, extreme climate change occurrences and growing disaster risks.

Willingness to pay for water has been and will continue to be a challenge.  The average consumer would prioritize their expenditures, and like it or not, water isn’t on the top of that priority list. 

Evidence-based strategies—the pragmatic pursuit of polices that worked—were at the front and center of developing Asia’s extraordinary success in raising living standards and reducing extreme poverty over the past two decades.