Lara Merling

Lara Merling is a Senior Policy Advisor for the Global Economic Governance Initiative and the Task Force on Climate, Development and the International Monetary Fund, working to advance a development-centered and inclusive policy framework at international financial institutions.

Before joining the GDP Center, Lara worked for the International Trade Union Confederation, representing the global labor movement with international financial institutions and within the G20 context. Prior to that, Lara was a research associate at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, where she examined the consequences that policies centered around fiscal consolidation have on living standards, and economic stability and debt sustainability. Her research has highlighted how standard policy prescriptions, often promoted by the International Monetary Fund, fail to put countries on a path of long-term sustainable and inclusive growth. Lara’s research interests focus on better understanding what policies can best deliver on achieving development goals and improving well-being and living standards for all.