United States

In Portland's Waterfront Park, Steve Wessing sold Occupation-themed buttons to demonstrators for $1 each. Photos: Michael Andersen for MercyCorps.

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Can middle-class Americans really speak for "the other 99 percent"? Demonstrators say so

Sometimes, people who claim to speak for "the other 99 percent" aren't actually among them.

Developing countries are determined to foster stronger domestic science communities. Photo:<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nasacommons/4857944215/">NASA (flickr)</a>

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Space: The economic development frontier

Developing countries are shooting for the moon.

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Innovations reach new heights at Social Good Summit

Big ideas received big recognition at last month’s Social Good Summit in New York City, where the world’s brightest and most determined converged under the banner of social betterment.

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The history of the modern world, told with moving dots

Some say a transaction tax could put humans back in charge of financial markets. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/rogbu/3064449616/in/photostream/">RoGb77 (flickr)</a>

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An anti-poverty tax, some say, could save financial markets from themselves

As lightning-fast computer programs replace human brokers on Europe's virtual trading floors, anti-poverty warriors want to slow things down.

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Do the American rich realize how far the poor are slipping?

Wind catchers on a cistern near Yazd, Iran, that help to keep the water cool. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/birdfarm/548266027/">birdfarm (flickr)</a>

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Using Age-Old Designs to Solve Modern Problems

Part of a Global Envision miniseries about Portland State University's effort to become the "Consumer Reports" of developing-world technology.

Lionel Messi, considered the world's top football player at the moment, takes aim at more than just the back of the net. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/34103436@N06/3176052482/">prettyfriendship (flickr)</a>

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FC Barcelona Takes a Shot at Polio Eradication

Many of us dream of bending it like Beckham. But star-quality soccer — football, to most of its 250 million players worldwide — is almost impossible without a healthy childhood.

In recent years, the net worth of minority households have plummeted drastically. Photo: <a href="http://pewsocialtrends.org/2011/07/26/wealth-gaps-rise-to-record-highs-between-whites-blacks-hispanics/3/#chapter-2-household-wealth">Pew Research Center</a>

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Inequality on the Rise, Minorities have 20 Times Less Wealth than Whites

Equality has been one of the defining tenets of the United States since its establishment. Yet it's disparity, not equality, that is on the rise.

Is cold, hard cash more or less helpful to those in need than conditional aid? Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jtyerse/3954240271/">jtyerse (flickr)</a>

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Taking Away Conditions for Aid: Innovative or Counterproductive?

Economics is about choices. What I spend money on is what I value most, because it comes at the cost of something else. People are rational, and thus make rational decisions—right?

Immigration policy is intended to protect American workers, but letting more foreigners through checkpoints like this one may create jobs. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/scalleja/578343598/sizes/m/in/photostream/">scalleja (flickr)</a>

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US Opens Doors to Good Ideas, No Matter Where They're From

Instead of deporting immigrants with good ideas, the U.S. government is opening its doors a little wider to foreign entrepreneurs in hopes of boosting a weak economy.