By Brigid Smith The History and Political Economy (HPE) Project and the Global Development Policy (GDP) Center held a two-day workshop on May 4 and 5 titled “What Time is It? Turning Points and Ruptures in Global Governance.” Co-directed by GDP Center Faculty Affiliate Quinn Slobodian, the HPE Project collaborated with the GDP Center to […]
By Richard Kozul-Wright Last month, the World Bank announced the return of Industrial Policy for Development in a report described as “the first comprehensive guide to industrial policy for development in the 21st century.” Running well over 250 pages and covering 15 policy tools, the latest edition concludes that industrial policy should be given its […]
This week, global economic leaders, policymakers and civil society representatives gathered in Washington, DC for the 2026 Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group, marking a key moment to assess the state of the global economy and discuss a path forward in an increasingly uncertain world. The Spring Meetings […]
On the sidelines of the 2026 World Bank & International Monetary Fund (IMF) Spring Meetings, the Barbados Presidency of the Climate Vulnerable Forum–Vulnerable Twenty Group of Finance Ministers (CVF-V20) announced the launch of a new crisis funding mechanism for vulnerable countries—Lifeline. This financial arrangement between vulnerable countries will provide rapid and targeted liquidity support tailored […]
The mission of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is to promote international financial stability through liquidity support, surveillance and capacity building. Emerging market and developing countries frequently turn to the IMF during balance-of-payments distress. IMF liquidity support comes with conditionalities that require borrowing countries to commit to a series of policy reforms. These conditionalities have […]
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) conducts periodic Reviews of Program Design and Conditionality (RoC), and it is currently undergoing the first review since 2018. These reviews analyze the performance of IMF programs in recent years and establish changes to the framework guiding future programs. IMF programs are designed to address balance-of-payments challenges, and countries must […]
International financial institutions (IFIs) are increasingly expected to support environmental and climate goals. Among them, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) plays a central role in shaping economic policy across much of the Global South through its lending programs. However, little systematic evidence exists of the environmental consequences of these programs, including their potential effects on […]
Due date: Monday 6 April, 2026 (5pm EST) The Human Capital Initiative (HCI) at the Boston University Global Development Policy Center is pleased to announce a call for proposals for PhD student-led field research projects in human capital and development. Established in 2017, HCI generates rigorous evidence-based insights on the impact of human capital on […]
By Tim Hirschel-Burns This blog is part of a blog series on past large-scale international investment programs and the lessons they provide for the investment push needed for development and climate action today. You can read the introduction to the blog series here and part 1 here. In the decades after World War II, South […]
The Global Financial Safety Net (GFSN) is a set of institutions and mechanisms that provide insurance against crises and financing to mitigate their impacts. It has four main elements: countries’ own international reserves; bilateral swap arrangements whereby central banks exchange currencies to provide liquidity to banking systems; regional financial arrangements (RFAs) by which countries pool […]