Human Interest
The truth about foreign aid that politicians won't admit
IPN Opinion article
Despite an unsustainable deficit at home, all three parties want to continue an aid binge abroad.
The Health Care Math Everyone Avoids
IPN Opinion article
Whatever the merits of President Obama's healthcare plan, someone will have to pay for it - but there will be fewer and fewer taxpayers and more and more healthcare-dependants as time goes by. It is a calculation that everyone wants to avoid.
India: Urgent steps are needed to ensure quality medicines
IPN Opinion article
The WHO is trying to fight the huge international trade in counterfeits but faces opposition from India and others, driven by a strange coalition ranging from the far Left to business organisations: this author blows away some of the straw men these people have built up. Barun Mitra says robust trademark protection will give Indian companies a stake in quality and give Indian, and worldwide, patients the guarantees that they need.
Vested Interests in Deadly Medicines
IPN Opinion article
Counterfeit drugs are flooding into Africa, where up to one in three medicines can be fake, causing widespread suffering and death.
Protect Africa's artists or their music will die
IPN Opinion article
African governments must unleash the talents and abilities of their creators and entrepreneurs, including peasants, their manufacturers and their hugely popular but under-rewarded musicians.
Unchain Africa's Melodies
IPN Opinion article
Many kinds of African music are loved the world over yet most African musicians remain bitterly poor: a few remarkable individuals have found success abroad but only South Africa offers the kind of legal protection for property rights that Western creative talents take for granted. These authors describe how copyright underpinned the investments and the creative rights that launched Nashville, a story that can be imitated anywhere. Zambia shows how failure can be turned around quickly. See the full report Nashville in Africa here.
How surveys twist rankings on health care
IPN Opinion article
Proponents of nationalised healthcare systems frequently refer to the WHO ranking the US system a lowly 37th in the world. Yet how reliable are these rankings? Glen Whitman reveals their faults and underlying, ideological bias.
Unleashing African Growth
IPN Opinion article
Despite the collapse of the Doha trade talks, some countries are making unilateral reforms to speed up trade: a World Bank report and recent reforms in Africa show there are huge benefits available without any international negotiation or agreeement. Compare this progress with the damage done by aid, perpetuating poverty, corruption and protectionism.
