While there are strong theoretical arguments for ways in which public spending influences growth, robust empirical links have been difficult to establish. More recently, many of the methodological problems that plagued the earlier literature have been overcome and interesting policy lessons...

Development practitioners have been working for half a century to help pull millions of people out of poverty, disease, and fear. However, the challenge of poverty remains enormous. The disparity in levels of income, health, and education across countries grows greater, even as levels of...