Author: Samantha Igo

The Geopolitics of Latin America’s Regional Development Banks

What factors help or impede international cooperation within regions of the Global South? A new working paper from Leslie Elliott Armijo and Verónica Rubio Vega Sepehr examines how variations in the geographic scope of a region can result in different types of power (im)balances among members, in turn generating important consequences for both the depth […]

Global Financial Safety Net Tracker Database Methodology Guidebook

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 […]

Access to Green Finance Improves Compliance with Environmental Regulations in Bangladesh

By Nabil Haque Over the last three decades, rapid industrialization and its ensuing pollution have led to a significant decline in environmental quality in Bangladesh. A 2023 report from the World Bank reveals the dire situation of water pollution in Bangladesh, with heavy metal and chemical pollution having far-reaching impacts on not only water supply […]

Regulatory or Market Pressures: What Promotes Environmental Grandstanding in Bangladesh?

Bangladesh has experienced high environmental degradation with rapid economic growth. In the first decade of industrialization, factories operated without environmental clearances or monitoring and enforcement by regulatory bodies. Further, inadequate coordination among government departments led to the clustering of industrial activity near urban centers without longer-term planning or land zoning. Yet, Bangladesh also hosts the […]

Bretton Woods Revisited: Creating a Monetary and Economic Order Fit for the 21st Century 

Ahead of the 80th anniversary of the Bretton Woods Conference, the following institutions have prepared this statement: Institute for Economic Justice (South Africa), Centre for Social and Economic Progress (India), Centre for Sustainable Finance at SOAS, University of London (UK), BRICS Policy Center (Brazil), Boston University Global Development Policy Center (USA) and Heinrich Böll Foundation (Germany). […]

Debt, Development and Gender

Gender equality is a crucial component of successful development, yet austerity puts a disproportionate burden on women, increasing their economic vulnerability and affecting societal outcomes. Conversely, economic growth that leads to increased female labor force participation without compensatory investments in social care provisioning and better distribution of caregiving responsibilities will ultimately compromise investment and growth. […]

The Offshore Dollar and US Policy

Dollar borrowing outside the United States has over generations grown to be very large, with US policy providing some inducement and, in critical episodes, support. In a new paper published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s Policy Hub, Robert N. McCauley highlights three instances where the US Federal Reserve (Fed) has backstopped markets as […]

Africa’s Chronic Liquidity Challenges and the Role of Special Drawing Right Allocations

Overlapping global shocks faced by African countries have caused severe liquidity challenges in recent years. Many countries are currently experiencing low real gross domestic product (GDP) growth, higher inflation, exchange rate instability, balance of payments crisis and a high risk of debt distress. The most critical is the increasing disruption that climate change risks pose […]

GDP Center Round-Up: Spring 2024 Global Economic Governance Book Talk Series

By Daniella Luna and Samantha Igo The Spring 2024 Global Economic Governance Book Talk Series brought together four distinguished scholars with recent books, spanning India’s economic history to social protection and austerity in International Monetary Fund (IMF) programs. Ashoka Mody opened the series with a discussion on the economic history of India through the lens […]