Category: FINANCIAL STABILITY

Around the Halls: Readout from the Bali G20 Summit

In parallel to a chaotic 27th UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, leaders of Group of 20 (G20) countries met in Bali, Indonesia from November 15-16 for the G20 Leaders’ Summit against a backdrop of worsening climate impacts, an ongoing energy crisis, Russia’s war in Ukraine and skyrocketing inflation. Expectations for the […]

Chart of the Week: How the Global Financial Safety Net Differs in Capacity by Income Group

By Amanda Brown Leaders from Group of 20 (G20) countries gather in Bali, Indonesia from November 16-17 – a highly anticipated policy event as developing countries face rocketing inflation, supply chain pressures from Russia’s war in Ukraine, the lingering financial bottlenecks of COVID-19 and devastating climate impacts. In the World Bank’s latest Global Economic Prospects […]

Growing Pains: Charles P. Kindleberger and the Dollar System

By Perry Mehrling I wrote Money and Empire: Charles P. Kindleberger and the Dollar System to learn about global money: where it came from and where it’s going. For me, when I want to learn something, I look around for someone who already seems to have a good handle on it, and for global money, […]

Money and Empire: Charles P. Kindleberger and the Dollar System

Charles P. Kindleberger ranks as one of the 20th century’s best known and most influential international economists. A professor of International Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) from 1948-1976, he taught cosmopolitanism to a world riven with nationalist instinct. He worked to relieve the fears of his fellow citizens through education, thinking that […]

GDP Center Roundup – IMF/World Bank Group Annual Meetings, 2022

By Amanda Brown The international system is at a crossroads, facing increasingly global challenges and struggling to meet the needs of all countries amid rising levels of unsustainable debt and climate disasters. Against this backdrop, the IMF and World Bank kick off their Annual Meetings in Washington, D.C. from October 10-16, 2022. As these institutions […]

Critical Challenges in Realizing the Energy Transition: An Overview of Indian States

Over the next few decades, India will undergo a significant energy transition to meet climate goals, with a steady reduction in the share of fossil fuels in its energy portfolio. This transition will have many different impacts, including on government revenues, investments and potential loss of fossil fuel-based assets and employment. A March 2022 study […]

No Voice for the Vulnerable: Climate Change and the Need for Quota Reform at the IMF

In 2021, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) committed to incorporate climate-related issues into its operations and is in the process of developing frameworks and policies. The IMF’s governance structure will impact the decision-making process on how these frameworks will be developed, with a quota system based on countries’ economic share determining formal voting power. Concurrently, […]

Climate Physical Risk, Transition Spillovers and Fiscal Stability: An Application to Barbados

The 6th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) underscored that climate impacts will be significant and differ widely across countries, with developing economies far more exposed to the negative impacts of chronic and acute physical risk. Beyond climate physical risks, countries can also be negatively affected by a disorderly introduction of […]

Meeting the Moment: The IMF, Debt-For-Climate Swaps and Development

The level of debt distress among emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs) has been a concern even before the COVID-19 pandemic, and there is now a burgeoning consensus that a full-blown debt crisis may loom on the horizon. Even without a widespread crisis, the increasing number of countries who are losing their fiscal space jeopardizes […]