By Rebecca Ray For many years, researchers have debated the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) use of austerity, or required fiscal budget tightening: how common it is, which borrowers receive such requirements, whether IMF practice has changed after successive financial crises, and what impacts such austerity has had. Two new working papers from the Boston University […]
In the wake of the Asian Financial Crisis, East Asia’s efforts to enhance regional financial cooperation raised the possibility of East Asia playing a more assertive role in global financial governance. However, despite the region’s increased voice in governance and economic weight, East Asian financial systems and markets have mostly adapted to global norms developed […]
Ahead of the G20 summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia this week, our experts outline the top policy priorities of the moment. Below are recommendations related to trade agreements, bond purchases, IMF austerity, strengthening the global financial safety net, climate change, and more: G20 Needs to Reset Multilateralism As the COVID-19 pandemic rages into a second […]
In a new policy brief, Kevin P. Gallagher, Director of the Global Development Policy Center, and William N. Kring, Assistant Director, together with Haihong Gao, Ulrich Volz, and José Antonio Ocampo discuss the shortcomings of the current global financial safety net. After outlining the dysfunctions of the current financial system, the authors propose a set […]
In the wake of the global financial crisis of 2008-9, the research department and flagship reports of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) suggested tight fiscal consolidation was inappropriate for developing nations undergoing economic stress. In this new working paper, Dr. Rebecca Ray, Dr. Kevin P. Gallagher, and Dr. William Kring evaluate the extent to which […]
The outbreak of COVID-19 is a human tragedy that is rapidly becoming an economic tragedy as well. As the world’s health systems are under strain to combat the virus, the present Global Financial Safety Net (GFSN) is similarly struggling to respond to the severe financial strain governments are facing around the world. A high degree […]
By William N. Kring Conversation, July 2019.
By William N. Kring Quartz Africa, July 2019.
The push for intraregional trade in Africa comes at a pivotal moment for the continent. Across the region, growth in gross domestic product remains very uneven. In large part, this sluggish growth is due to the lackluster performance of the three largest economies. But it is also due to increasing debt vulnerabilities across the continent, […]
African Union (AU) leaders will gather in Niger on 7 July for an Extraordinary Summit to discuss the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). They will be meeting at a critical moment for the continent. Africa, which is experiencing uneven growth and rising debt sustainability problems and is facing an uncertain global environment, needs the […]