North Korea's extreme financial exclusion severely hinders economic growth, perpetuating poverty and inequality. This study examines financial exclusion in the country, shaped by its isolationist policies, international sanctions, and a rudimentary financial system. Through a literature review and mixed-method analysis, incorporating data from the World Bank, IMF, academic sources, and NGOs, the research highlights how financial exclusion limits economic development. North Korea's self-reliance ideology, strict internal policies, and global sanctions exacerbate its financial isolation, restricting access to formal banking and financial services. As a result, North Koreans rely on informal financial networks, cross-border trade, remittances, and even cryptocurrencies to navigate these constraints. Additionally, the regime employs sophisticated money-laundering techniques to evade sanctions and integrate illicit funds into the formal economy, funding its nuclear ambitions. The study recommends humanitarian pathways to alleviate financial exclusion, advocating for a conditional easing of sanctions in exchange for compliance with international demands. Strengthening anti-money laundering frameworks is also crucial to curb illicit financial activities. Addressing financial exclusion in North Korea requires a balanced approach that supports the population while enforcing measures against regime-led financial crimes.

Based on the income poverty level differences and multi-dimensional poverty perspective in China, this paper compares the performance of education poverty alleviation, employment poverty alleviation, and industry poverty alleviation. The hypothesis was tested by quantile regression and ordered probit model. The results show that: in the short term, the effect of poverty alleviation through education is not significant; however, the effect of poverty alleviation through employment and industry is significant, increasing the income of poor households to a certain extent. The effect of poverty alleviation through employment is high. In the long term, the effect of poverty alleviation through industry is good. For the deep poor households, the effect of poverty alleviation through employment is more significant in the short term. For the marginal poor, only industry poverty alleviation has a significant effect on poverty alleviation. Education poverty alleviation and industry poverty alleviation are conducive to improving multi-dimensional poverty. In the alleviation of multi-dimensional poverty, employment poverty alleviation and education poverty alleviation have a certain synergy.

Despite the status of the United States as one of the world’s economic superpowers, the country is plagued by child poverty. The issue of child poverty is most prominent in rural, majority-minority communities, where years of limited opportunity, often created by systematic oppression, have created a vicious cycle of economic despair. There are a number of policies that have been explored which could limit the effects of child poverty, most notably the Expanded Child Tax Credit (ECTC), which was introduced as part of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021. This paper uses a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods to thoroughly examine this policy (ECTC) and its potential to both cut child poverty in the short term and increase educational attainment and economic mobility in the long term for recipients. The ECTC program ended in 2022 and only lasted in a short period. By examining the impacts of a similar and long-standing but less accessible and generous program, the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), on educational attainment in specific communities we can theorize and determine the significance the Expanded CTC would have. We use EITC program as a proxy of ECTC and reach inference of the long-term impact of ECTC program on children’s education attainment. The result of this research indicates a number of benefits of the Expanded Child Tax Credit, including its potential to cut child poverty and increase educational attainment, its impact on future economic prosperity in rural, majority-minority communities, and the policy’s ability to decrease economic disparities between non-metro and metropolitan areas.