By Yaechan Lee The COVID-19 pandemic has increased fiscal pressure on a global scale. Advanced economies, have been able to cope with the new norm thanks to their relatively larger fiscal and policy space and are now anticipating a robust V-shaped economic recovery. Low-income countries (LICs) have been considered most financially vulnerable against this pressure […]
By Rachel Thrasher and Dr. Veronika Wirtz Well before the COVID-19 crisis, the rising costs of essential medicines and the limited ability to produce affordable generics were chief concerns for low- and middle-income countries. Those concerns turned to panic and desperation when the COVID-19 crisis spread around the world. COVID-19 revealed that production of personal […]
By Jake Werner A major crisis shakes a society, exerting pressure that aggravates existing cracks in its foundations and forces to the surface flaws that previously went largely unnoticed. A healthy response requires grappling with newly exposed dysfunctions and injustices and taking action to repair and heal the underlying causes. But those seeking such reforms […]
By Rachel Thrasher As a recent working paper by Michael Palmedo shows, countries that have enacted data exclusivity into their intellectual property laws have faced increased pharmaceutical import prices over the past 20 years: Data exclusivity is a form of intellectual property protection that applies specifically to data from pharmaceutical clinical trials. While innovator firms […]
By Samantha Igo A drastic shift in climate policies and investments will be necessary to meet the Paris Agreement climate targets, fostering responsible and inclusive economic transitions across the globe. Climate mitigation scenarios – such as those developed by the Network for Greening the Financial System, a reference platform of over 80 financial authorities known […]
Editor’s Note: The following is a testimony delivered by Dr. Rebecca Ray to the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission hearing on China in Latin American and the Caribbean on May 20, 2021. To Chairs Bartholomew and Scissors, to the Commission, good morning. My name is Rebecca Ray. I’m a development economist and senior researcher […]
The EU-MERCOSUR free trade agreement (FTA) has yet to take effect, but would represent the largest trade deal for both blocs in terms of number of citizens involved. While previous studies have made projections for the FTA’s impacts, none of the past projections have taken adverse trends in employment, wage inequality and productivity growth among […]
Around the world, women are significantly underrepresented in politics, from participation to elected positions. A gender gap is also evident in policy preferences, with women and men expressing systematically different priorities about how states should raise and invest resources. Women are more likely than men to favor redistribution, social security, and insurance, for example, and […]
The Boston University Global Development Policy Center is pleased to present the 2021 Summer in the Field Fellows. These four outstanding Boston University students are currently pursuing graduate degrees at different departments across the university, including the School of Public Health, the Pardee School of Global Studies and the Department of Political Science. The GDP […]
By Luma Ramos Latin America has been severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. As one of the most affected regions in the world in terms of infections, it also has been the most economically distressed region, with an estimated GDP contraction of approximately 7.7 percent in 2020. Recovering from this crisis will require Latin American […]