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

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

When I work with countries struggling to pay for budgets or finance trade deficits, I reflect on how Americans do not spend a moment considering the unique advantages of being able to issue bonds and print money freely.

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.

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

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.

There are many roads to prosperity, but one must be taken. Inaction leads nowhere.