Progress On Hunger

Progress is a thing. A smaller share of people go hungry now than they did in the past, and that share is falling rapidly in South America in particular. 

The share of people who are hungry has been decreasing faster in South America than anywhere else in the world. It is down by one-third since 2020, according to a report published on July 21st by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). Just 3.5% of people in the region consume insufficient calories, the lowest level recorded. Eliminating hunger by 2030 is one of the UN’s “sustainable development” goals. “If there is a region in the world that can potentially achieve that, it’s South America,” says Máximo Torero, the FAO’s chief economist.

Lula, as the president is commonly known, made food security a priority when he returned to office in 2023. By 2025 Brazil had made it off the UN’s Hunger Map, which tracks countries where more than 2.5% of the population suffers from chronic hunger. Chile and oil-rich Guyana were also removed. Argentina is almost there at under 3%. Colombia and Paraguay are approaching at 4%, while Peru and crisis-battered Venezuela are making inroads near 5%. Even Ecuador and Bolivia have improved a tad, to 11% and 20% respectively. Only Suriname is moving in the wrong direction.

From The Economist. 

Things To Research About CEOs

This information probably exists in the academic literature, but I don't know the answers, even though I've read a lot of the "power elite" literature in sociology and economics and political science

* How long does a typical CEO serve in that position?

* How often are CEOs previously CEOs elsewhere, and how often do CEOs leave a position for another CEO position?

* Does the tenure of a typical CEO vary between publicly held companies and large privately held companies?

* How does CEO tenure differ between company founders and successor CEOs?

* How often are CEOs removed by a board of directors, both eventually and at some point? This may be complicated to discern as many CEOs who are forced out try to frame the event as a voluntary retirement. Does this differ for company founders and successor CEOs?

* What are the circumstances that most frequently cause a board of directors to fire a CEO?

* What are the circumstances that most frequently cause a CEO to leave a position as CEO unilaterally?

* How do CEO and top level politician career patterns differ between the for profit sector and the non-profit and government sector?  Term limits and lots of study make this clear for U.S. Presidents and U.S. Governors. But what about members of Congress, Mayors, City Managers, County Managers, County elected officials, college presidents and chancellors, school superintendents and principals, football coaches, and other state and local elected officials and senior executives? What about non-profits and cooperatives?

* What are the statistics on the ages at which people become and cease to serve as CEOs and how does that differ by subtypes of CEOs?

* What characteristics of CEOs (age, education, experience, gender, etc.) differ between founders and successor CEOs, between publicly held and privately held company and non-profit CEOs, between elected officials and top appointed officials in government service, between private sector and elected top officials?