The problem with pronatalism: Pushing baby booms to boost economic growth amounts to a Ponzi scheme

Aug 12, 2024 10:54 am UTC| Insights & Views Economy

In the face of shrinking populations, many of the worlds major economies are trying to engineer higher birth rates. Policymakers from South Korea, Japan and Italy, for example, have all adopted so-called pronatalist...

Women are less interested in AI than men, but using it would help them advance at work

Aug 12, 2024 10:53 am UTC| Insights & Views Technology

Women use generative artificial intelligence tools less than men do. The World Economic Forum recently published an article on the subject. It reported that 59 per cent of male workers aged between 18 and 65 use...

Cameroon spends 90% of Chinese development loans on its French region: this could deepen the country’s divisions

Aug 12, 2024 10:53 am UTC| Insights & Views Economy

In Cameroon, violent clashes between government forces and separatists from the English-speaking parts of the country started in 2017. Since then, at least 598,000 people have had to leave their homes and about 2 million...

Urban growth is leading to more intense droughts for most of the world’s cities – and Sydney is a case study for areas at risk

Aug 12, 2024 10:53 am UTC| Insights & Views Economy

The growth of cities worldwide is contributing to more intense drought conditions in many cities, including Sydney, a new Chinese study has found. This is adding to urban heat and water stress. These important findings...

Raising revenue from land: what African cities might learn from Hong Kong’s unique land-lease system

Aug 12, 2024 09:18 am UTC| Insights & Views Economy

Land prices across many African cities are soaring. This is because land is a citys key asset. As urbanisation progresses, demand for land will rise, and therefore so will land prices, because the supply of land in cities...

Giving feedback can be daunting for new leaders — here’s how to provide it thoughtfully

Aug 12, 2024 09:18 am UTC| Insights & Views Life

Giving performance feedback at work can be a stressful experience, especially for new leaders and their employees. It often evokes feelings of anxiety, uncertainty and defensiveness. Leaders might worry about how their...

Paris Games herald a new anti-corruption era, but carrying the torch may pose an Olympic challenge for the US

Aug 12, 2024 06:04 am UTC| Insights & Views Sports

The world has grown cynical about the integrity of major international sports, and not without reason. From the Olympics bribery scandal of the 1990s which implicated the hosts of Nagano 1998, Sydney 2000 and Salt Lake...