The most effective executive branch officials try to help legislators develop explanations for the votes they are being asked to take.

All of us make mistakes. The key is to acknowledge them, learn, and move on. The real sin is ignoring mistakes, or worse, seeking to hide them.

Private sector development and the creation of small businesses spur investment, jobs, opportunity, and hope. It empowers the market to meet local needs, whether for food, basic goods, or services.

Corruption is a cancer that steals from the poor, eats away at governance and moral fibre and destroys trust.

The world is only one poor harvest away from chaos. We are so close to the edge that politically destabilising food prices could come at any time

One of the challenges for sub-Saharan Africa is that markets are of modest size. This makes regional integration important.

In London, Washington, and Paris, people talk of bonuses or no bonuses. In parts of Africa, South Asia, and Latin America, the struggle is for food or no food.