By Jolanda Profos. The OECD’s new report States of Fragility 2015: Meeting Post-2015 Ambitions addresses the substantial challenges of defining – and classifying – fragility. The report proposes a multidimensional approach to the concept of `fragility’, rather than using a simple one-dimensional list. It argues that breaking down concepts of fragility into various dimensions can enable better understanding of the causes and drivers of fragility, thereby informing a better response. More...

By Veronique Siegler. In general terms, social capital represents social connections and all the benefits they generate. High social capital means a “happy society”, where people are connected, tolerant, help each other and spend time for the “common good”. They have trust in others and in institutions, and are empowered to shape the society they live in. This has positive impacts on a range of areas, such as personal well-being, health, employment or crime. More...

At the OECD Forum on 2 June, Xavier Godinot, Delegate for International Affairs of ATD Quart Monde (ATD Fourth World ), and René Locqueneux, a member of this NGO in the north of France, led a lively debate with over 50 Forum participants on living on less than two dollars a day.
(Une version française de l’article est disponible ici). More...

By Patrick Love. I once got corrected by some pedant for talking about a “tennis bat”, so as you may realise, I don’t know much about the sport. But I do like Andy Murray, ever since I saw an interview with him after he’d won some big game that lasted for ages. The journalist mentioned that his mother and girlfriend were in the crowd, and that it must have been really hard for them. More...

By Patrick Love. Before the recent crisis, the biggest failure of a commercial bank in the UK was the City of Glasgow Bank in 1878. The CGB collapse was due to mismanagement and fraud, and the authorities set up a commission of inquiry that recommended a number of measures to improve corporate governance. No they didn’t. They arrested the bank’s directors and sent them to prison, and corporate governance improved remarkably. More...

By Anthony Gooch. The 2015 OECD Forum comes at key moment in what is proving to be a watershed year. It will be followed by the G7 Summit on 7-8 June, focussing on responsible business conduct and environmental and social conditions along global supply chains. In July, Addis Ababa will play host the third International Conference on Financing for Development which will prepare the ground for the UN Summit in September, where the adoption of the post-2015 development agenda will define a set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). More...

By Bill Below. Transparency in government is the solution to many ills. To begin with, it promotes honesty. It supports accountability. It limits the effects of undue influence on policy by special interest groups. The more transparency we have in both the public and private sector the better off we are. As a societal value, transparency stipulates that the business of business and that of government shall be conducted in the light of day. More...

By Adrian Blundell-Wignall. The greatest puzzle today is that since the global crisis financial markets see so little risk, with asset prices rising everywhere in response to zero interest rates and quantitative easing, while companies that invest in the real economy appear to see so much more risk. More...

By Patrick Love. When you start to play football (or soccer, or whatever it’s called in your country) at a competitive level with real goalposts, referees and crowd trouble, one of the first things you learn is what to do when you commit a foul that elsewhere would get you arrested for causing grievous bodily harm (or aggravated assault, or whatever it’s called in your country). More...