I wrote about Urbanization in China for a class at Columbia Journalism School:

Over 758 million people already live in cities in China, or roughly 54% of the population, and the United Nations estimates that this will climb as high as 76% by the year 2050.

China’s urban population is surging for a variety of reasons: over 10 million children are born in cities each year and the older generations are living longer. But by far the biggest reason is the influx of migrants, who account for 70% of urban population growth. This mass migration out of the countryside will have profound effects on China’s cities and the future of the nation.

China’s leaders hope that creating a primarily urban populace will modernize the national economy as more people work in productive jobs, boosting GDP per capita and fostering an increase in consumption.

But this project also comes with huge challenges. Cities with ballooning populations must keep up with increasing demands on their infrastructure and their social services, and rural areas must cope with a declining number of residents. The government must pay attention to the assimilation of migrant workers, lest cities become full of unemployed and disenchanted young men. Through it all, the ruling party’s top concern will be to maintain stability despite this incredible change.

Stefan Fussman -  Flickr

Monetary policy is a lot more interesting than it sounds. Central Banks like the Federal Reserve, the ECB, and the Bank of England have incredible influence in affecting the global economic climate by setting interest rates and establishing programs to revitalize credit markets.

Policymakers have adopted programs like the funding for lending scheme, the term asset-backed securities loan facility, and the targeted long term refinancing operation. Catchy, right? I gave a presentation on this topic while I was studying for my master's degree, which you can read here. 

While I was on a grad school fellowship in Berlin in 2016, I wrote this paper about the logistical response to the refugee crisis.

Policymakers in the European Union are facing an unprecedented migration challenge, as a massive wave of asylum-seekers have been continuously fleeing their home countries over the past year and a half in hope of a better future in Europe. The sustained flow of new arrivals has proven to be more than some governments were equipped to handle, and the challenge of processing and resettling asylum seekers has led some to dub this the “migrant crisis.” EU governments are trying to answer the immediate humanitarian questions of how to feed and shelter these refugees.

In this paper, I look at the logistical challenges faced by European Union governments and other organizations in accommodating the wave of new arrivals. I will focus specifically on the situation in Berlin.