Download There have been executions in 22 out of 52 states in the US in the

There have been executions in 22 out of 52 states in the US in the last 5 years. Moreover, the death penalty is
still legal in 33 out of the 52 states. On the other hand, it has been abolished in 7 states in the last 5 years.
Moreover, its application seems to be concentrated in certain places. Executions took place in only 1% of
counties in 2013 (in the United States states are divided into counties), but half of these were in the states of
Florida and Texas, and death sentences were passed in only 2% of all counties. Overall there have been
executions in 15% of all counties in the last 45 years. So the general trend seems to be one of gradual rejection
of the death penalty, but there is still some way to go.
Le Monde Diplomatique
13 January 2014
SUPPLEMENT - HEALTH COVER: A UNIVERSAL STRUGGLE
Countries of the South battle on
by James Akazili and Charlotte Soulary
Five billion people across the world do not have proper social protection. In developing countries, more and
more of them are calling for universal health coverage (UHC). That would allow the poorest peoples to cross the
money divide to get treated, and encourage the modernisation of health infrastructures. Some governments in the
South, such as Senegal, have already adopted UHC but that is not yet the case in most states.
In an unequal 21st-century world, access to healthcare is key to fighting poverty and ensuring social cohesion.
Universal health coverage would allow millions to receive healthcare without falling into poverty. There is a
growing focus on UHC in health systems. In 2010 the World Health Organization general assembly urged
member states to “aim for affordable universal coverage and access for all citizens on the basis of equity and
solidarity.”
FINANCIAL TIMES - January 17, 2014
In shale, Britain has a second chance to mend its fortunes
Profits should be invested for the nation, not frittered away, writes Misha Glenny
Imagine a country where welfare payments are generous and not under attack. Yet, despite all this opulence
and generosity, the government owes a negligible amount of debt. Such a utopia exists barely 300 miles from
British shores. It could have existed on this side of the North Sea as well. But whereas the Norwegians decided
in 1990 to invest the revenues from North Sea oil, Britons decided to waste them in tax cuts and government
spending. Countries that grow rich from treasures buried beneath their soil usually end up with unbalanced
economies. Economists point to the case of the Netherlands, which suffered a decline in its manufacturing
industry after natural gas was discovered there in 1959.
Margaret Thatcher’s use of North Sea oil to fund tax cuts and government spending undoubtedly
contributed to her popularity. Yet in the long term it has proved tragically shortsighted.
Microfinance in Bangladesh
The biggest study so far finds that microcredit helps the poor after all
Apr 19th 2014 – The Economist
A new study by the World Bank* is distinctive because of its size (it covers more than 3,000 households in
87 villages) and longevity: interviews took place over 20 years.
Bangladesh has well over 500 microfinance providers and the survey found that almost a third of rural
households are members of more than one. Critics of microfinance argue that borrowing from multiple sources
leads to over-indebtedness, trapping people in poverty. The study find no evidence of that. Rather, borrowing
increases personal expenditure, household assets, the labour supply and children’s education.
Moreover, loans benefit women more than men. Even a tiny loan frees women to work who might
otherwise be trapped in household chores. And multiple credit institutions encourage households to diversify
their income-earning activities.
Bangladesh’s government should look at the study and stop interfering with Grameen’s efforts to cut
poverty.
*“Dynamic effects of microcredit in Bangladesh”, by Shahidur Khandker and Hussain Samad. Policy
Taking Europe’s pulse
The Economist - Aug 15th 2014
THE eurozone's feeble recovery since the spring of 2013 came to a halt in the second quarter of 2014, when
GDP stagnated. There were some bright spots. Spain, the Netherlands and Portugal performed well. But GDP
fell in Germany, the biggest economy, and in Italy, the third largest.
The weakness in the eurozone is creating worries that the area may fall into deflation. Inflation is well
below the European Central Bank's target of almost 2%. Even though the ECB adopted measures in June to
encourage activity - lowering interest rates and announcing a plan to stimulate bank lending to the private sector
- it remains under pressure to do more to counter low inflation, by adopting a programme of quantitative easing
(creating money to buy financial assets).
The New York Times - December 29, 2013 - The Slow Demise of Capital Punishment
EDITORIAL
More states are coming to recognize that the death penalty is arbitrary, racially biased and prone to
catastrophic error. Even those that have not abolished capital punishment are no longer carrying it out in
practice. In 2013, Maryland became the sixth 1) ________ to end capital punishment in the last 2) ________
years. Eighteen states and the District 3) ________ Columbia have abolished the penalty, and it 4) ________
dormant in the federal system and 5) ________ military. Thirty states have had no executions 6) ________ the
last five years. As it 7) ________ less frequent, the death penalty also becomes 8) ________ limited to an
extremely small slice 9) ________ the country, and therefore all the more 10) ________ in its application. All 80
death 11) ________ in 2013 came from only about 2 12) ________ of counties in the entire country, 13)
________ all 39 executions — more than half in 14) ________ and Florida — took place in about 15) ________
percent of all counties, according to a 16) ________ report by the Death Penalty Information 17) ________.
Eighty-five percent of all counties have not 18) ________ a single execution in more than 19) ________ years.
Public support for the death penalty — 20) ________ important factor in the Supreme Court’s 21)
________ of its constitutionality — is at its lowest 22) ________ in four decades, and 40 percent 23) ________
people say they do not believe it 24) ________ administered fairly. Surely that is due 25) ________ part to the
hundreds of exonerations based 26) ________ DNA testing which continue to reveal 27) ________ failures
throughout the system. Of course none of this matters to, say, Troy Davis or Cameron Todd Willingham, both of
whom were executed in recent years despite deep doubts about their guilt. Nor is it of much use to the 3,100
people still sitting on death row around the country.
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Science and technology - Internet governance
An online Risorgimento
THE ECONOMIST - Apr 26th 2014 | SÃO PAULO
NETmundial, the big internet-governance conference held in São Paulo in April brought together
government officials, boffins and representatives of NGOs and business from 97 countries. A few months ago
fragmentation of the internet seemed a real threat. Dilma Rousseff, Brazil’s president, talked of bypassing
internet services based in America. Angela Merkel, 1) ________ chancellor, called for a separate European 2)
________. Both were angry at mass surveillance by 3) ________ National Security Agency. Ms Rousseff
convened 4) ________ last September in response to these revelations.
5) ________ is ironic, then, that NETmundial underlined 6) ________ convergence between Brazil and the
United States 7) ________ the conference's emphasis on “multistakeholderism” (the 8) ________ that
decisionmaking is not left solely in 9) ________ hands of governments). The existing model 10) ________
allowed the web to grow one-million-fold in 11) ________ years. It would be a mistake 12) ________ hand
control of it to some overarching, 13) ________ institution, even if it is not 14) ________ under the control of
governments. That would 15) ________ inimical to the internet’s protean nature.
16) ________ the internet certainly creates room for abuse, 17) ________ the form of digital vandalism and
18) ________, as well as mass surveillance, which was 19) ________ absent in the early days. Government 20)
________ is desirable if it means sorting out 21) ________ such as digital property rights or 22) ________
online transactions, but not if it subverts 23) ________ properties which have made the web 24) ________
successful.
Russia, Cuba and India, decried the 25) ________ declaration for undermining governments’ role. America
26) ________ queasy about its condemnation of online spying. 27) ________ complained it did not go far 28)
________ in supporting “net neutrality”, the principle that 29) ________ internet traffic should be treated
equally. 30) ________ is contested by many internet service providers, another “stakeholder”, who want the
freedom to charge different services differently for bandwidth. In the end, NETmundial did nothing to harm the
current set-up of internet governance. And many, including Tim Berners-Lee, the British inventor of the worldwide web, see marco civil, Brazil's new internet bill of rights, as a useful template for a global accord.
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Energy subsidies
Scrap them
Cloze Test
June 14th 2014 - The Economist
There are moves around the world to get rid of energy subsidies. Here’s the best way of going about it. For decades,
governments from Egypt to Indonesia have subsidised the price of basic fuels. Such programmes often start with
noble intentions— 1) ________ keep down the cost of living for 2) ________ poor or, in the case of 3)
________countries, to provide a visible example of 4) ________ benefits of carbon wealth—but they 5) ________
disastrous consequences, wrecking budgets, distorting economies, harming 6) ________ environment and, on balance,
hurting rather 7) ________ helping the poor.
Emerging markets are not 8) ________ only places that distort energy markets. 9) ________, for instance, suppresses
prices by restricting exports. 10) ________ subsidies are more significant in poorer 11) ________. Of the $500 billion
a year the 12) ________ reckons they cost—the equivalent of 13) ________ times all official foreign aid—half is 14)
________ by governments in the Middle East 15) ________ north Africa, where, on average, it is 16) ________ about
20% of government revenues. The 17) ________ flow overwhelmingly to the car-driving urban elite. 18) ________
the typical emerging economy the richest 19) ________ of households hoover up 40% of the 20) ________ of fuel
subsidies; the poorest fifth 21) ________ only 7%. But the poorest suffer disproportionately 22) ________ the
distortions that such intervention creates. 23) ________ spends seven times more on fuel subsidies 24) ________ on
health. Cheap fuel encourages the 25) ________ of heavy industry rather than the job-rich 26) ________
manufacturing that offers far more people 27) ________ route out of poverty.
For all these 28) ________ the benefits of scrapping subsidies are 29) ________. Emerging economies could easily
compensate every poor 30) ________ with a handout that was bigger than the benefits they got from cheap fuel and
still save money. In the process, they would help the planet. According to the International Energy Agency,
eliminating fossil-fuel subsidies would reduce global carbon emissions by 6% by 2020.
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