Serials

The Pacific Economic Monitor provides an update of developments and policy issues in the Pacific economies.

The adoption of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2000 by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly was a major breakthrough in the fight against poverty. Not only did it draw out firm commitments from nations but it also promoted greater transparency and urgency by putting the spotlight on national and international efforts to improve the living conditions of the poorest by 2015.

The Pacific Economic Monitor provides an update of developments and policy issues in the Pacific economies.

The Pacific Economic Monitor provides an update of developments and policy issues in the Pacific economies.

While economists and government officials assess the impact of the global economic downturn on Asia, millions of laid-off workers and recent college graduates face the real guesswork of figuring out how they are going to make a living. Indeed, lines of job seekers are lengthening across Asia, as the global crisis causes export markets to shrink and the high-flying, export-driven economies that feed them to skid.

The Pacific Economic Monitor provides an update of developments and policy issues in the Pacific economies.

The global economic crisis has swept across Asia and brought into sharp focus attempts by nations to cooperate and to integrate their economies. In many ways, the financial crisis of the late 1990s led to the formation of regional cooperation mechanisms to stabilize markets and currencies in times of turmoil. Now these initiatives are being tested.

In the third edition ofDevelopment Asia, William Branigin, a Washington Post staff writer and the newspaper's former Southeast Asia bureau chief for more than a decade, explores the impact of the global economic crisis on Asian economic cooperation. The insights are compelling.

One worrisome trend in Asia is growing inequality - the rich are getting richer much faster than the poor. This issue of Development Asia was brought into sharp focus with the current financial turmoil, which is having a much greater impact on the poor than the rich.

How much should inequality be a cause for alarm, if at all? What are the implications of a widening social divide? Should governments do something - or nothing? The stories on this cover theme look at many aspects of a complex issue. Guest economists present the case for and against interventions toward social inclusion, though they tend to support policies that promote equal opportunity and access to good education and basic health services.

In this issue of the Journal of Greater Mekong Subregion Development Studies, we feature five articles that concern some of the more pressing issues of cooperation in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) - trade facilitation and trade logistics, the trade impact of cross-border transport infrastructure, tourism corridor development, and biofuels and rural renewable energy. The diversity of the topics tackled in this volume reflects the multifaceted challenges of regional cooperation. But it also highlights the immense potential that could be unleashed by addressing these challenges through the right combination of well-informed policy choices and successful program implementation.

Development Asia aims to make a significant contribution to raising awareness and understanding of the issues that matter most today. It is not an academic journal; nor is it a publication that presents the views of the Asian Development Bank. It is intended as a forum for debate and discussion, reflecting different views of the most topical and complex development issues in the region.

This launch issue focuses on four such issues: climate change, biofuels, genetically modified foods, and food security. The cover story features a candid interview with Rajendra Pachauri, chair of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, who shares his views on the impact of climate change and the role of development institutions in addressing the problem.