By Rachel Thrasher and Dr. Veronika Wirtz Well before the COVID-19 crisis, the rising costs of essential medicines and the limited ability to produce affordable generics were chief concerns for low- and middle-income countries. Those concerns turned to panic and desperation when the COVID-19 crisis spread around the world. COVID-19 revealed that production of personal […]
By Jake Werner A major crisis shakes a society, exerting pressure that aggravates existing cracks in its foundations and forces to the surface flaws that previously went largely unnoticed. A healthy response requires grappling with newly exposed dysfunctions and injustices and taking action to repair and heal the underlying causes. But those seeking such reforms […]
By Rachel Thrasher As a recent working paper by Michael Palmedo shows, countries that have enacted data exclusivity into their intellectual property laws have faced increased pharmaceutical import prices over the past 20 years: Data exclusivity is a form of intellectual property protection that applies specifically to data from pharmaceutical clinical trials. While innovator firms […]
By Samantha Igo A drastic shift in climate policies and investments will be necessary to meet the Paris Agreement climate targets, fostering responsible and inclusive economic transitions across the globe. Climate mitigation scenarios – such as those developed by the Network for Greening the Financial System, a reference platform of over 80 financial authorities known […]
The EU-MERCOSUR free trade agreement (FTA) has yet to take effect, but would represent the largest trade deal for both blocs in terms of number of citizens involved. While previous studies have made projections for the FTA’s impacts, none of the past projections have taken adverse trends in employment, wage inequality and productivity growth among […]
By Luma Ramos Latin America has been severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. As one of the most affected regions in the world in terms of infections, it also has been the most economically distressed region, with an estimated GDP contraction of approximately 7.7 percent in 2020. Recovering from this crisis will require Latin American […]
The world economy is still reeling from the COVID-19 shock and the subsequent restrictions to social and economic activity. While in the developed world governments have been able to mobilize a massive arsenal of monetary and fiscal measures to prop up their economies, estimated at between 20 and 25 percent of their GDP, the poorest […]
By Katie Gallogly-Swan The world economy is still reeling from the COVID-19 shock and the subsequent restrictions to social and economic activity. While in the developed world, governments have been able to mobilize a massive arsenal of monetary and fiscal measures to prop up their economies, estimated at between 20 and 25 percent of their […]
The original Maastricht regime designed the Eurozone’s fiscal segment in a way that sought to keep member states’ treasury budgets balanced by disciplining them through market forces, reducing the overall volume of public indebtedness, prohibiting monetary financing and avoiding situations where the Eurozone treasuries would bail each other out. In a new journal article, Andrei […]
By Maureen Heydt and Daniel M. Schydlowsky The Latin American economy has been devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic, with the International Monetary Fund estimating that around 17 million people have fallen into poverty since the start of the crisis. Beyond the COVID-19 crisis, Latin America’s economic growth and financial stability is also imperiled by climate risks, involving […]