Morning Briefing

"[A] recent study by the World Health Organization and the International Labor Organization identified 72 different 'social pension' plans around the world dedicated to the elderly, the ill, or the down and out," Newsweek writes in an article exploring the growth in welfare programs around the world. "Most countries on the [WHO/ILO] list are developing nations once considered too destitute to help their poor and that, until recently, had little or no welfare coverage at all. ... While fighting inequality and helping the neediest has long been on the docket of Third World leaders, most previous attempts have been sabotaged by inefficiency, corruption, and stagnant or dysfunctional economies," the magazine writes. "Now roaring economies in Asia, Latin America, and even Africa, coupled with better-functioning governments and sound fiscal stewardship, have stretched the policy horizons for many nations that once lived from one crisis to the next," according to Newsweek.