The Optimist

Rich countries have gotten very good at keeping people alive in earthquakes. But that doesn't mean poor countries should try to emulate them.

Are bad economies good for democracy?

Mikhail Gorbachev helped end the Cold War. He also did more than anyone else to end the rest of them.

In an age of globe-trotting American college kids, ubiquitous Internet access, and cell phone networks that reach even sub-Saharan cattle herders, does the world still need the Peace Corps?

Why does the United States allow more foreign cattle to immigrate than it does people?

It really is getting better -- even for the bottom billion.

You don't need to be superfast to be super-competitive -- but try telling that to the governments sinking billions into fiber-optic networks.

Sudan has 99 problems, but secession isn't one.

Financial access is key to helping the world's poor -- and tech-savvy big banks, not microcreditors, are our best hope for providing it.

The biggest problem with post-disaster relief efforts like Haiti's is the unreasonable ambitions we have for them.

Plenty of factors are holding back Haiti's development, but last year's earthquake isn't one of them.

Private contractors cost taxpayers worldwide untold billions in corruption, inefficiency, and mismanagement. But the solution isn't getting rid of them -- it's showing the rest of us their paperwork.