While the United States struggles to address its most severe labor shortage on record, across the globe, Saudi Arabia faces a very different challenge. As of 2020, 72.4 percent of its population is of working age, defined by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development as the percentage of the population aged 15 to 64. […]
By Siddharth George Most people are shocked to learn that 34 percent of Indian Members of Parliament (MPs) face criminal charges. These are not trifling charges like unlawful assembly; rather, the majority of MPs with a criminal record—some two-thirds of the 44 percent, or nearly 30 percent of all MPs—face charges for serious crimes such […]
When democratic societies hold elections, voters face the task of collecting information on candidates and deciding who to support at the polls. In an ideal world, this system would filter out “bad” candidates, but yet, in India—the world’s most populous democracy—approximately 34 percent of elected national legislators face criminal charges, and nearly ten percent of […]
In August, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) allocated $650 billion in Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), the international reserve asset of the IMF, to support liquidity and foster global economic resilience in the wake of COVID-19. To further these recovery efforts, a Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST) was proposed, in part as a means of re-channeling […]
By William Kring As the more lethal and contagious Delta variant of COVID-19 spreads across the globe, concerns continue to mount about the duration of the global pandemic and its growing social and economic costs. Just last week, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) trimmed its global economic growth forecast and cited rising debt levels and […]
By Bridgette Lang On Wednesday, September 22nd, Ying Qian, former advisor to the Asian Development Bank, joined the Fall 2021 Global China Research Colloquium for a discussion on Brady bonds and the potential for debt restructuring in the post-pandemic era. Discussing the findings of his recent working paper, Qian explained why Brady-bond-like instruments have the […]
By Maureen Heydt From October 11-15, 2021, China will host the first phase of the 15th Convention on Biological Diversity, Conference of the Parties (CBD COP15), a major global summit on biodiversity. Signed by 150 government leaders and entered into force on December 29, 1993, the Convention on Biological Diversity is dedicated to promoting sustainable […]
China’s overseas development finance has funneled nearly half a trillion dollars to developing countries since 2008. This stepwise increase in available development finance has the potential to make a much-needed dent in the infrastructure gaps developing countries face, estimated at more than $3 trillion per year. Given the impressive scale of this new source of […]
By Samantha Igo and Ember Larregui The past few months have been marked by extreme weather events unprecedented in their frequency and severity, racking up nearly $298 billion in damages so far this year. In the face of the pandemic and the worsening climate crisis, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced a historic allocation of […]
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the year 2020 saw the sharpest economic downturn since the Great Depression. In 2021, the world economy is showing signs of a broad, albeit uneven recovery. The existing gaps of vaccination rollouts, economic fundamentals, and varying monetary and fiscal responses in different countries pose challenges in the areas of financial […]