GDP Center Round-Up: Fall 2022 Global Economic Governance Book Talk Series
By Amanda Brown
The Fall 2022 Global Economic Governance Book Talk Series convened five distinguished scholars across four webinars to discuss their recent books, spanning topics from the key to successful development to capital flight in Africa.
In September, Stefan Dercon opened the series by unpacking what is behind the “development bargain” for developing countries. The following month, Léonce Ndikumana discussed the impact of capital flight in Africa and the need for global coordination, and in November, Katrin Kaufer and Lillian Steponaitis explored the role and future of mission-driven banks. Finally, Zainab Usman bookended the series with a conversation on economic diversification in Nigeria and how to build a post-oil economy.
Below, see a summary and recording for each webinar in the Fall 2022 Global Economic Governance Book Talk Series:
Gambling on Development: Why Some Countries Win and Other Lose
Kicking off the series on September 15, Stefan Dercon, Professor of Economic Policy and Director of the Centre for the Study of African Economies at the University of Oxford, discussed his new book, “Gambling on Development: Why Some Countries Win and Others Lose.”
During the talk, Dercon explained how and why development happens in specific places but not in others, specifically focusing on recent successes and failures. In particular, he examined the issue of why certain nations have been able to reach agreements with their elites that are favorable to economic development and growth while others have not. He emphasized that successful growth and development need the presence of a development bargain, a commitment to growth and development by a country’s elite. Read the webinar summary.
On the Trail of Capital Flight from Africa: The Takers and the Enablers
On October 20, Léonce Ndikumana, Distinguished Professor of Economics and Director of the African Development Policy Program at the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, discussed his new book, “On the Trail of Capital Flight from Africa: The Takers and the Enablers.”
Beginning the conversation by illustrating the challenge in financial terms, Ndikumana underscored the need to address capital flight in Africa. He also showed that donors and destination countries need to pay attention because capital flight is detracting from development finance. Ndikumana put forth a set of policy solutions, from recognizing capital flight as a global phenomenon to improving transparency and combating corruption. In all, the discussion and the book offer a comprehensive picture of the complexity of Africa’s financial inflows and outflows. Read the webinar summary.
Just Money: Mission-Driven Banks and the Future of Finance
Katrin Kaufer, Director of Just Money at the MIT Community Innovators Lab (CoLab) in MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning and Executive Director of the Presencing Institute, and Lillian Steponaitis, Racial Wealth Gap Initiative Coordinator at the Center for Community Self-Help joined on November 17 to discuss their new book, “Just Money: Mission-Driven Banks and the Future of Finance.”
Throughout the conversation, Kaufer and Steponaitis discussed several key examples of mission-driven institutions from their book and made an argument for the value of mission-driven organizations and just finance. Kaufer and Steponaitis also underscored the importance of innovation to make mission-driven finance a reality and overcome the inherent challenges of using money to work toward intentional goals. Through their examples, they demonstrate that money can be a tool to build a more equitable and sustainable future. Read the webinar summary.
Economic Diversification in Nigeria: The Politics of Building a Post-Oil Economy
To close out the series, Zainab Usman, Senior Fellow and Director of the Africa Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace joined on December 1 for a conversation on her new book, “Economic Diversification in Nigeria: The Politics of Building a Post-Oil Economy.”
She argues that Nigeria’s major development challenge is achieving economic diversification beyond oil. The discussion analyzed how current frameworks fall short and an alternative framework is needed to understand these development challenges. To address the challenges facing countries like Nigeria, there needs to be a more accurate diagnosis of the development challenges that resource-rich countries face. She posits that, while the dominating framework of the “oil curse” has provided interesting additions to the discussion, they have had a disproportionate influence on policy decisions, which have been largely unsuccessful in systemic transformation. Read the webinar summary.
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