Category: Finance

TOKYO / SANTA CLARA — August 18, 2025 — Japanese investment conglomerate SoftBank Group Corp. announced Monday that it will make a $2 billion equity investment in Intel Corporation, marking a significant vote of confidence in the U.S. chipmaker as it seeks to regain ground in the global semiconductor race. The agreement, signed by both […]

People rely on data from federal agencies every day – often without realizing it. Rural residents use groundwater level data from the U.S. geological survey’s National Water Information System to decide where to dig wells. High school coaches turn to weather apps supported by data from the National Weather Service to decide when to move […]

It is widely understood that low-income countries and populations are more exposed and vulnerable to the effects of climate change—and therefore more badly in need of help with adaptation and resilience building. At the same time, it is also increasingly recognized that the current climate finance architecture struggles to put adaptation financing directly into the […]

Many employers are demanding more from workers these days, pushing them to log as many hours as possible. Google, for example, told all its employees that they should expect to spend 60 or more hours in the office every week. Some tech companies are demanding 12-hour days, six days a week from their new hires. […]

Gender gaps in access to financial services are narrowing— according to the World Bank’s newly published Findex 2025 dataset, the share of women with accounts has climbed to 77%, just four percentage points behind men, globally. In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), the gender gap stands at five percentage points (78% of men vs. 73% […]

Faculty hiring freezes. Department budget cuts. Declining public trust. Across the United States, higher education is navigating one of its most challenging periods in decades. Yet, quietly, something else is happening: More universities are adding chief marketing officers, or CMOs, to their top management teams. From flagship universities to small regional colleges, public universities are […]

Financial health is rising on global policy agendas — from G20 summits to UN conferences — as countries confront economic volatility and growing household vulnerability. In 2024, financial health was spotlighted by the G20’s Global Partnership on Financial Inclusion (GPFI) and referenced in the UN’s Financing for Development Outcome Document, signaling broader recognition of its […]

In India’s turmeric value chain, women perform over 80% of the labor, including land preparation, weeding, harvesting, cleaning, boiling, drying, peeling, grinding, and packaging — grueling and labor-intensive work. CGAP, the IFC’s Agribusiness Leadership Program, and Samunnati—a member of ABERA, a collaboration between CGAP and IDH that aims to improve the climate resilience of service […]

Imagine you invest US$500 to help a startup get off the ground through investment crowdfunding. The pitch is slick, the platform feels trustworthy and the company quickly raises its target amount from hundreds of people just like you. Then – silence. No updates, no financials, not even a thank-you. You’ve been ghosted – not by […]

Most of the world observes International Workers’ Day on May 1 or the first Monday in May each year, but not the United States and Canada. Instead, Americans and Canadians have celebrated Labor Day as a national holiday on the first Monday in September since 1894, 12 years after the first observance of Labor Day […]