As the global economy faces increasing challenges in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, and as interest rates continue to rapidly rise in the United States and across the Global North, emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs) are facing a perfect storm of high inflation, increased borrowing costs and surging debt levels. Against this backdrop, […]
By Timon Forster On March 29, 2023, the Boston University Global Development Policy Center, the Institute for Economic Development and the Department of Economics hosted its annual Paul Streeten Distinguished Lecture in Global Development Policy, which celebrates the legacy of BU Professor Paul Streeten as an eminent economist and interdisciplinary scholar of global development policy. […]
By Marilou Uy and Rishikesh Ram Bhandary The global transformation to achieve low-carbon and climate-resilient development poses macro-critical challenges for countries around the world. Countries need to accelerate the shift to low-carbon investments, build resilience to climate shocks, contend with loss and damage and navigate the cross-border impacts of the climate transition. Developing countries alone […]
In 2021, economic losses from natural catastrophes totaled $270 billion. Poor climate physical risk assessment limits adaptation finance, which is still lagging behind mitigation finance in emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs), but also high-income countries. A new policy brief published by the European Capital Markets Institute and authored by Irene Monasterolo, Kevin P. Gallagher, […]
By Luma Ramos and Rebecca Ray The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change declared that the world stands at a ‘now or never’ moment. In this decade, nations must make the necessary investments to prevent global warming from surpassing 1.5 degrees Celsius. Without those investments, the world will suffer severe consequences, including devastating human, ecological and […]
A debt crisis is emerging in the Global South at the precise moment when substantial investment is needed to meet shared climate and development goals. Yet, the G20 Common Framework has been unable to engage all creditor classes or link debt relief to climate and development. How can emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs) find […]
Reform of the international financial system is in the air, with support from both developing countries, as well as the advanced economies that wrote the rules in the first place. Tasked by US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen, the World Bank has begun advancing an ‘evolution roadmap’ that reconsiders the mission, operations and financing […]
As the international institution charged with maintaining global financial and monetary stability, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has a vital role to play in ushering in a green transition that is as swift as it is just. What actions has the IMF taken since the release of its Climate Change Strategy in August 2021 to […]
In the eighth edition of Manias, Panics, and Crashes: A History of Financial Crises, Robert McCauley joins Robert Aliber to build on Charles P. Kindleberger’s renowned work. Since 1978, Manias, Panics and Crashes has tracked various financial crises through time, from ‘Tulipmania’ in the 17th century to the more recent global financial crisis. The book, a hallmark […]
Much has been written about the questionable legitimacy of extending credit to states where it is likely that the funds will benefit the corrupt leader, or where the terms of the debt are highly inequitable. Less literature focuses on a different moment in the debt cycle: the point of default and the loss of voice […]