Based in New York, the Asia Society has longed distinguished itself through its many public outreach activities, particularly its conferences, lecture series, and educational outreach efforts. Their website is a part of such efforts, and their recently launched podcasts series continues in this enjoyable vein. The podcasts began in September 2008, and currently include conversations regarding...

Created in 1966, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is headquartered in Manila. Their operations extend across 67 countries, and their primary mission is "to help its developing member countries reduce poverty and improve the quality of life of their people." In order to achieve this goal, ADB offers loans, technical assistance, grants, advice, and knowledge. Along the top of their homepage,...

The Asian Partnership for the Development of Human Resources in Rural Asia (AsiaDHRRA) traces its roots to a workshop held in Thailand in 1974. This is a regional partnership of eleven different social development networks and organizations in ten Asian countries "that envisions Asian rural communities that are just, free, prosperous, living in peace and working in solidarity towards...

The United States Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service (ERS) "promotes the well-being of rural America through research and analysis to better understand the economic, demographic, environmental, and social forces affecting rural regions and communities." Part of this work includes the creation of this remarkable atlas, which provides a "spatial interpretation of county-level,...

The Council on Foreign Relations provides a number of services for the general public, and in the past they have offered up public discussions, forums, and other outreach activities. In addition, they offer the "Backgrounders" series, which offer succinct explanations of current political and economic issues. First-time users can visit the "Most Recent" area to peruse the latest piece, or they can...

Birthday cake, croissants, and lemon meringue pie may not be the first objects that come to mind when one ponders micro- and macro-economics, but Bakeonomics350, a creative blog bringing economic principles to the kitchen, makes these fields tasty and tangible. The blog was started by Susan, an avid baker and professor of Economics, who combined both skills to show "the sweeter side of economics."...

More and more Americans are experiencing problems with their credit, and in a rather ominous trend, the year 2005 saw a record number of personal bankruptcy filings. The first site offered here was created by the American Radio Works documentary group, and it profiles the current state of personal bankruptcy, along with offering some investigative reporting on the credit reporting industry....

In recent times, the ability of middle-class persons to secure adequate health care insurance has been compromised by a number of factors. These are the findings of a report from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation released in March 2010. The work chronicles state-by-state health coverage trends since 1999, and it was prepared by the State Health Access Data Assistance Center (SHADAC) at the...

The situation of rural communities in Latin America and the Caribbean is in some cases quite dire, and this report from the World Bank offers some timely commentary on the economic opportunities in these areas of the world. Released in February 2005, this 352-page report prepared by a team of researchers led by Guillermo Perry evaluates the effect of the rural sector on national growth, poverty...

More than four out five Americans reside in a metropolitan area, and the importance of these regions to the nation's economy is hard to overstate. The Brookings Institution is well aware of the problems and opportunities facing metropolitan areas and they have created this site as a gathering place for policy analysts, planners, and the general public to learn more about metropolitan areas. The...