By Tim Hirschel-Burns 2025 admittedly presents a dubious landscape for achieving substantive global economic governance reforms. The scale of needs is large—achieving development and climate goals demands trillions more in annual financing and a reorientation of our economic system—while our political context is trending in the wrong direction, with countries cutting international investments and geopolitical […]
The most notable milestone of 2024 was the 80th anniversary of the Bretton Woods institutions of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank and World Trade Organization. This anniversary came as calls for ambitious global economic governance reforms gain momentum in key fora, and developing country frustrations with the existing system continue to grow. 2024 […]
While the macroeconomic significance of climate change has been understood in academic scholarship for a long time, policy engagement on this topic is rather new. While initiatives such as the Network for Greening the Financial System and the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Change have emerged, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) – the only […]
By Thang Ha On November 14, 2024, the Boston University Global Development Policy (GDP) Center hosted a webinar on the latest data and trends in China’s overseas energy finance, based on the new update to China Global Energy Finance (CGEF) Database. The webinar was moderated by Rebecca Ray, Senior Academic Researcher with the Global China Initiative […]
By Tim Hirschel-Burns and Rishikesh Ram Bhandary A $4 trillion financing gap to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), 85 percent of which are off track. A need to rapidly scale up climate action and energy access. Weak global growth. Instability-fueled migration. A reversal in a decades-long trend of reducing global poverty. The […]
By Naomi Frim-Abrams On November 20, 2024, the Human Capital Initiative (HCI) hosted Jon Denton-Schneider, Assistant Professor of Economics at Clark University, for the final installment of the 2024 Fall HCI Research Seminar Series. He presented his joint work with Eduardo Montero at the University of Chicago titled, “Disease, Disparities, and Development: Evidence from Chagas […]
By Praveena Bandara On November 7, 2024, the Boston University Global Development Policy Center (GDP Center) hosted Marina Zucker-Marques, Senior Academic Researcher at the GDP Center, and Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky, Researcher at the National Scientific and Technical Research Council of Argentina (CONICET), to discuss their new book, “Feminism in Public Debt: A Human Rights Approach,” as part of […]
Emerging market and developed countries must meet their shared climate and development goals to avoid the catastrophic costs of inaction. Yet, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates that 26 low-income countries are in debt distress or default, and new academic research estimates say this number will double if countries mobilize the level of investment needed […]
By Kamal Malhotra The United Nations (UN) is arguably the world’s most enduring and all-encompassing “global public good.” In fact, the recent UN Summit for the Future, where 193 UN Member States co-signed a Pact for the Future, reaffirmed that the UN’s original mandates of peace and security, sustainable development and human rights remain relevant […]
Chinese overseas lending has drawn attention for their support to developing countries in infrastructure development, as well as growing criticism for sovereign debt impacts. However, the institutions and instruments involved in overseas finance vary significantly and have undergone substantial changes over time. While financing has to date been dominated by policy banks, Export-Import Bank of […]