The Custom-House

Dean Acheson

In a recent Sunday NY Times, Henry Kissinger reviewed a new book about former Secretary of State Dean Acheson (Dean Acheson, A Life in the Cold War by Robert Beisner): Cold Warrior (New York Times, October 15, 2006).

The book sounds good ("sweeping and thoughtful account of Acheson’s tenure"). 

Kissinger says that the Secretary of State has five important tasks:

...Acheson dealt with the five principal tasks of any secretary of state: the identification of the challenge; the development of a strategy to deal with it; organizing and motivating the bureaucracy in the State Department and in other agencies; persuading the American public; and conducting American diplomacy toward other countries.

The Institute for International Economics at 25

The widely respected Institute for International Economics is 25 years old.  It's changed its name (now the "Peter G. Peterson Institute for International Economics," or "Peterson Institute") to honor the former Secretary of Commerce, and long-time Institute Board Chairman.

Its Director, C. Fred Bergsten, has written a history of the Institute (The Peter G. Peterson Institute for International Economics at Twenty-five), with lots of insights into the strategy it's pursued.  Here is future Institute Board Chairman Peterson, identifying a market niche (based on the time frames held by different institutional participants in the policy process): 

How did Botswana avoid the "resource curse"?

Little, land-locked Botswana has had one of the best growth records in the world (What happened in Botswana?, Ben Muse, Jan 9, 2004).

Finding diamond mines didn't hurt.  But many countries have been unable to leverage rich natural resource endowments into growth.  Many think that under some conditions resource riches can lead to lower growth rates.  This is the resource curse.  Why was Botswana different?

Her President, Festus Gontebanye Mogae, laid out his thoughts recently at the Center for Global Development.  Michael Clemens reports: