Emergency BU Alert BU Alert: Winter Weather Closure Update – Campuses Remain Closed 2/24/26, Reopening 2/25/26 Due the continued effects of the blizzard, including limited transportation infrastructure and power outages throughout the state, Boston University’s Charles River, Fenway, and Medical Campuses will remain closed on Tuesday, February 24, with limited services being offered. The University will resume normal operations and reopen all campuses on Wednesday, February 25. For more info, please visit bu.edu/today.
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 […]
By Laurissa Mühlich, Marina Zucker-Marques and Barbara Fritz In an era of mounting debt pressures, climate shocks and volatile international trade policies, timely and reliable financial resources are critical to stabilize economies without sacrificing essential public spending and development goals. To address this, crisis financing is provided through the Global Financial Safety Net (GFSN)—a network that includes […]
Por Pedro Perfeito da Silva e Marina Zucker-Marques A expansão das FinTechs—inovações tecnológicas em serviços financeiros—está mudando a forma como pessoas e empresas poupam, investem, realizam pagamentos, acessam crédito, e gerenciam suas finanças. Enquanto estudos destacam o potencial das FinTechs para promover inclusão financeira e eficiência, elas também criam novos riscos para países em desenvolvimento, […]
By Pedro Perfeito da Silva and Marina Zucker-Marques The spread of FinTech—technology-driven innovation in financial services—is changing how people and businesses save, invest, make payments, access credit and manage their finances. While studies highlight FinTech’s potential to promote financial inclusion and efficiency, it also creates new risks for developing countries, from financial instability to currency […]
Since the crisis of the Bretton Woods order, capitalist economies have experienced a pervasive impulse to financialization, characterized by the growing importance of financial practices and motives alongside the dissemination of market reforms such as the removal of capital controls and the erosion of financial regulation. Beside the negative implications for growth and income distribution, […]
By Marina Zucker-Marques, Laurissa Mühlich, and Barbara Fritz In a world beset by lower growth prospects, unprecedented uncertainty in international trade and high debt service pressures, access to timely financial resources is essential for central banks and governments in order to stabilize their economies without compromising spending on domestic priorities. This crisis financing comes from […]
Climate vulnerable economies have launched ambitious national plans and strategies to achieve prosperity while mitigating climate shocks, building resilience and powering their economies with clean energy. Resource mobilization will be critical for these efforts. However, members of the Vulnerable Group of 20 (V20), comprising 74 economies vulnerable to climate change, face significant obstacles to resource […]
By Samantha Igo As a record-breaking heat wave strains energy grids and risks public health across Europe, policymakers, activists and experts convene in Seville, Spain from June 30 to July 3 for the highly anticipated 4th International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4). These rather rare policy events (the last was 10 years ago in […]
Developing countries are facing dramatic debt and development crises where, to meet obligations to their external creditors, debt-distressed countries are sacrificing investments in education, healthcare, infrastructure and climate resilience. A reason for the debt situation is that the international community failed to address the flaws in the global financial architecture and to enable and embolden […]
By Tim Hirschel-Burns The highly anticipated Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4) will take place from June 30 to July 3 in Seville, Spain. Achieving the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) requires funding that is in short supply in developing countries, and the FFD process is designed to help facilitate a global […]