Alexia Latortue, the deputy chief executive officer of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), joins David Dollar for a conversation about the MCC and how it has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Latortue and Dollar discuss strategies for building infrastructure and institutional capacity in developing countries, concerns over growing debt levels in many countries, and challenges facing U.S. foreign assistance programs today.  Dollar & Sense is a part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Send feedback to BCP@Brookings.edu and follow us at @policypodcasts on Twitter.

How has the MCC responded to the challenges of COVID-19?

Dollar and Sense is a podcast about all things trade. From local ports and markets to international trade and diplomacy, Brookings Institution Senior Fellow David Dollar and guests explain how our global trading system is built and its effect on our everyday lives.

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David Dollar, the host of Dollar and Sense, passed away on October 6, 2023. In this final episode of his podcast, David’s friends and colleagues pay tribute to his work as a U.S. official and scholar, as a mentor and colleague, as a podcast host, and ultimately as a family man. Show notes and transcript Dollar & Sense is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Learn more at brookings.edu/podcasts, and send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu.

A memorial tribute to David Dollar

Caitlin Welsh, director of the Global Food and Water Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), reviews global food insecurity, noting that malnourishment extends beyond just hotspot countries, potentially affecting over 40% of people worldwide. She discusses shocks that have affected food security and agricultural trade, such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, COVID-19, and India’s restriction on exports of rice in 2022, and also comments on foreign entities’ purchases of agricultural land around the world. Show notes and transcript Dollar & Sense is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Learn more at brookings.edu/podcasts, and send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu.  

A look at food insecurity and agricultural trade around the world

Ryan Hass, newly appointed director of the John L. Thornton China Center at the Brookings Institution, talks with host David Dollar about the themes and ideas the China Center will be focusing on in the next few years. Hass also reviews the state of U.S.-China relations under the Biden administration, how domestic politics—including Taiwan’s—matter in the U.S.-China competition, and his vision of a best case scenario for U.S.-China relations in the coming decade. Show notes and transcript Dollar & Sense is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Learn more at brookings.edu/podcasts, and send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu.  

What’s the best case scenario for US-China relations?

Samantha Gross, director of the Energy Security and Climate Initiative at Brookings, talks with David Dollar about whether we can attribute the growing number of extreme weather events and disasters to climate change. Gross says global temperature rise makes these events more likely, but also notes that international cooperation to reduce carbon is having a positive effect on average temperature rise. Show notes and transcript Dollar & Sense is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Learn more at brookings.edu/podcasts, and send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu.

What’s the link between climate change and environmental disasters?

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen recently visited China and met with senior Chinese economic and political officials. Mark Sobel, U.S. chairman of the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum, reflects on her trip, and says U.S.-China dialogue on economic and other global issues is imperative. “I believe that if the world’s two largest economies … aren’t talking,” Sobel says, “whether they agree or not, that’s a very bad thing for themselves and the world.” Show notes and transcript Dollar & Sense is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Learn more at brookings.edu/podcasts, and send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu.

How has the MCC responded to the challenges of COVID-19?

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