It’s human nature to focus first on what’s immediately in front of us. That’s usually a good thing: it keeps us from tripping. But this tendency toward myopia also has huge risks, especially when it drives national and international policy agendas. Just compare the alacrity with which the G-20 responded to the 2007–08 global financial crisis to the international foot dragging on climate change, despite scientists’ warning that Earth is headed for a scorching 4 degree Celsius increase in the average global temperature by the end of the century. Myopia indeed.

To listen to the Wonkcast or read a full show summary, visit www.cgdev.org/wonkcast

My guest on the Wonkcast this week is New York Times columnist and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Nicholas Kristof. Nick’s incisive reporting on the lives of poor and vulnerable people—especially girls and women (see, for example, Half the Sky)—has led millions of his readers to empathize with people facing difficulties they could otherwise hardly imagine. To listen to the Wonckast or read a full show summary, visit www.cgdev.org/wonkcast.

The recent collapse of a factory building in Bangladesh that killed hundreds of people making clothing for export has shined a harsh spotlight on the lack of worker protection in such low-income developing countries. But my guest on this week’s show, CGD senior fellow Kimberly Elliott, says that the disaster is unusual only in its magnitude.

To listen to the Wonkcast or read a full show summary, visit www.cgdev.org/Wonkcast

Last week, a bipartisan group of US senators known as the Gang of Eight introduced comprehensive immigration reform bill that includes a provision for increased temporary, low-skill work visas. CGD senior fellow Michael Clemens, a leading expert in migration, labor mobility, and development, has welcomed the proposal as good for development.

To listen to the full Wonkcast or read a show summary, visit www.cgdev.org/wonkcast

The day before we recorded this Wonkcast news broke of an agreement between the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain to pilot “multilateral automatic tax information exchange.” My guest, research fellow Alex Cobham, explains why this is so important, why financial secrecy and international tax law seem suddenly to be at the top of the global economic policy agenda – and why this could be especially good news for developing countries.

To listen to the Wonkcast or read a full show summary, visit www.cgdev.org/wonkcast

My guest on this Wonkcast is Amina Mohamed, Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and one of the nine candidates to become the next director general (DG) of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Mohamed tells me she is extremely familiar with the DG selection process, as she managed it eight years ago while working within the WTO. Now that Mohamed is herself a candidate, she says that she is well-qualified to lead the WTO and confident to let her track record speaks for itself.

To listen to the Wonkcast, or read a full show summary, visit www.cgdev.org/wonkcast

The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are the twin giants in global development and economic and financial stability, shaping the agenda for other international organizations and for governments across the world. What new issues face these institutions in a rapidly globalizing world? How are they responding? In this week’s Wonkcast, recorded in the run-up to the institutions’ Spring Meetings, we consider these questions.

To listen to the Wonkcast or read a full show summary, visit www.cgdev.org/wonkcast

My guest on this week’s Wonkcast is Herminio Blanco, Mexico’s former minister of trade and industry, and one of the nine candidates to become the next director general of the World Trade Organization. Blanco tells me the WTO is facing several challenges, and his experience negotiating numerous trade agreements including NAFTA, combined with more than a decade of experience in the private sector, equip him with the skills needed to push the WTO forward.

To listen to the Wonkcast or read a full show summary, visit www.cgdev.org/wonkcast