Promoting Multilateral Solutions for a Globalized World

Posted on August 30, 2012 by iMFdirect

Jeremy CliftBy Jeremy Clift

(Version in Español,  عربي)

We live in an increasingly globalized and interconnected world, helping to spread ideas, information, and technology ever more quickly. The globalized economy has created a complex and interlocking network of capital and trade flows that have brought major economic gains, lifting hundreds of millions of people out of poverty around the world.

But, as we have seen from the prolonged global financial crisis, our interconnectedness carries grave risks as well as benefits. With instant communication comes the risk of rapid contagion. There is, thus, a strong public interest in ensuring that global economic integration is supported by a coherent set of coordinated national macroeconomic policies and a harmonized international regulatory regime that addresses the fragilities in our global financial system.

The new issue of Finance & Development magazine looks at different aspects of interconnectedness. Kishore Mahbubani, dean of the National University of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and author of the forthcoming book The Great Convergence: Asia, the West, and the Logic of One World, argues that what he terms the global village increasingly requires global solutions to big emerging problems such as climate change.

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Filed under: Advanced Economies, Africa, Asia, Civil Society, Debt Relief, Economic Crisis, Economic outlook, Economic research, Emerging Markets, Employment, Europe, Finance, Financial Crisis, Fiscal policy, Global Governance, Globalization, growth, Inequality, International Monetary Fund, Investment, Latin America, Low-income countries, Middle East, Multilateral Cooperation, Politics, Public debt | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments »

Top 20 — iMFdirect’s Top 20 list

Posted on August 23, 2012 by iMFdirect

Three years after the launch of iMFdirect as a forum for discussing economic issues around the world, we look back at some of our most popular posts.

The IMF blog has helped stimulate considerable debate about economic policy in the current crisis, on events in Europe and around the world in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East, on fiscal adjustment, on regulating the financial sector, and the future of macroeconomics–as economists learn lessons from the Great Recession.

As readers struggled to understand the implications of the crisis, our most popular post by far was IMF Chief Economist Olivier Blanchard’s Four Hard Truths, a look back at 2011 and the economic lessons for the future.

Here’s our Top 20 list of our most popular posts by subject (from more than 300 posts):

1.  Global Crisis: Four Hard Truths; Driving With the Brakes On

2.  Financial Stability: What’s Still to Be Done?

3.  Fiscal Policy:  Ten Commandments ; Striking the Right Balance

4.  Macroeconomic Policy: Rewriting the Playbook;  Nine Tentative Conclusions ; Future Study

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Filed under: Advanced Economies, Africa, Asia, Economic Crisis, Economic research, Emerging Markets, Employment, Europe, Finance, Financial Crisis, Financial regulation, Financial sector supervision, Fiscal policy, Fiscal Stimulus, Global Governance, Globalization, growth, IMF, Inequality, International Monetary Fund, Investment, Latin America, LICs, Low-income countries, Middle East, Multilateral Cooperation, Politics, Public debt, recession | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

U.S. Fiscal Policy: Avoiding Self-Inflicted Wounds

Posted on August 8, 2012 by iMFdirect

by Gian Maria Milesi-Ferretti

(Version in Español)

The United States and much of the world economy are still recovering from the devastating global recession that began in 2008. Sometimes crises happen that we cannot foresee or avoid.

But for the U.S. economy, serious risks could come at the end of this year from two potential self-inflicted wounds: the so-called “fiscal cliff” and the debt ceiling.

Let’s start with the fiscal cliff. In simple terms: if U.S. policymakers do nothing, a number of temporary tax cuts will expire and significant across-the-board spending reductions will kick in on January 1, 2013. The combined effect of these measures could result in a huge fiscal contraction, which would derail the economic recovery.

Why is this happening?

The payroll tax break, the Bush tax cuts (enacted in 2001 and 2003, and extended for two years at the end of 2010), as well as exemptions on the Alternative Minimum Tax are set to expire on January 1, 2013.

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Filed under: Advanced Economies, Economic Crisis, Employment, Financial Crisis, Fiscal policy, growth, International Monetary Fund, Investment, Politics, Public debt, recession | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments »

Financial Support for Arab Countries in Transition

Posted on August 7, 2012 by iMFdirect

By Masood Ahmed

(Version in عربي)

The Arab Spring has injected new optimism into the Middle East and North Africa and, if managed well, the historic transitions that are under way will lead to a more prosperous future for the people of the region.

At the same time, the past year and a half has been difficult for the Arab countries in transition. They are facing economic strains as they manage political change and urgent social demands. It is a period when hard choices must be made, and it does not help that this is happening at a time of great turmoil in the global economy.

Close engagement

Throughout this difficult period, the IMF has remained closely engaged. We are advising countries on how to manage shocks to maintain economic stability, ensure that vulnerable households are protected during the transition, and lay the basis for job-creating growth.

We are also providing technical assistance to help build capacity and stronger institutions. In Egypt, for example, on tax reform to improve tax equity; in Libya to better manage its wealth through improved public financial management; and in Tunisia on measures to strengthen the financial sector.

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Filed under: Africa, Economic Crisis, Emerging Markets, Employment, Finance, IMF, Inequality, International Monetary Fund, Investment, Middle East, عربي | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

Global Crisis — Top Links from the IMF for Economics and Finance

Posted on June 27, 2012 by iMFdirect

Our top links for June, 2012 from iMFdirect blog and others:

Filed under: Advanced Economies, Africa, Asia, Economic Crisis, Economic outlook, Economic research, Emerging Markets, Employment, Europe, Finance, Financial Crisis, Fiscal policy, Globalization, growth, Inequality, International Monetary Fund, Investment, Latin America, LICs, Middle East, Multilateral Cooperation, Politics, Public debt | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Latin America: Riding the Global Financial Waves

Posted on June 17, 2012 by iMFdirect

By Gustavo Adler and Camilo E. Tovar

(Version in Español)

Latin America has a long history of accidents that have occurred while navigating turbulent financial international waters. With risks looming over the world economy, should the region worry about new global financial waves?

Global financial markets have seen frequent bouts of severe stress since 2008, although this isn’t really anything new for the region. Global financial shocks have occurred on average every 2½ years since 1990, with significant effects on Latin America.

But how costly are these shocks in terms of domestic output, and is Latin America better placed to cope with them this time?

In Chapter 3 of the IMF’s latest Regional Economic Outlook: Western Hemisphere, we analyze whether changes in underlying fundamentals have made the region more or less vulnerable over time. The analysis, which complements our work on the effects of terms-of-trade shocks, looks at what country features and policies make a difference. We focus here solely on the impact of the financial shocks by isolating the effect from commodity prices and global demand shocks.

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Filed under: Economic Crisis, Economic outlook, Economic research, Emerging Markets, Employment, Español, Financial Crisis, Globalization, growth, Investment, Latin America, Politics | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Imagining If Key Foreign Banks Start Reducing Their Exposure in Asia

Posted on June 10, 2012 by iMFdirect

By Anoop Singh

European banks play an important role in supplying credit to several Asian economies. What happens if they start reducing their exposure to the region?

The largest borrowers from European banks are Australia, Hong Kong SAR, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, and Taiwan Province of China, while China, India, and the economies of South East Asia generally have smaller liabilities.

Among European banks, those from the United Kingdom have a particularly significant presence in Asia. For most regional economies, the nonbank private sector—businesses and households—is the main recipient of credit from foreign banks as a whole.

Prominent role

European banks play a prominent role in the areas of trade credit and specialized project financing. In several Asian economies, however, lending by local subsidiaries and branches is funded primarily by local deposits, reducing potential deleveraging pressures.

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Filed under: Asia, Economic Crisis, Economic outlook, Emerging Markets, Employment, Europe, Finance, Globalization, International Monetary Fund, Investment, Politics, recession | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

India Can Revive Investment by Learning from Itself

Posted on June 6, 2012 by iMFdirect

By Laura Papi and Kiichi Tokuoka*

India’s investment,  the main  driver of economic growth in the mid-2000s when the country was growing in excess of 9 percent a year, has been sluggish for the past five years.

Private consumption is growing at a rate comparable to pre-crisis levels, but investment has not regained its strength.

The culprit is corporate investment: its share in GDP has fallen to about 10 percent—4 percentage points lower than that in 2007/08. This is a serious concern as India needs more supply capacity.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI)  Governor Subbarao recently said that India’s “non-inflationary rate of growth is about 7 percent,” down from 8.5 percent before the global financial crisis, suggesting that supply constraints—for example in power, coal, and land—have become increasingly binding.

Many reasons have been put forward to explain the investment malaise.

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Filed under: Asia, Economic research, Employment, Finance, Globalization, growth, Inequality, Investment, Politics, Public debt | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Regional Spillovers in South America: How “Systemic” is Brazil?

Posted on May 29, 2012 by iMFdirect

By Gustavo Adler and Sebastián Sosa

(Version in Español)

The risks that policies and shocks in major economies can spillover on other countries and regions have become a matter of renewed concern since the global crisis of 2008–09. Brazil is South America’s giant; how important is its influence on neighboring countries?

Brazil accounts for 60 percent of South America’s output and its economic fluctuations are closely correlated with those of many of its neighboring countries. This would appear to suggest that economic activity in Brazil’s neighbors is strongly influenced by Brazil’s business cycle.

But these close comovements could also reflect common global factors that affect all South American countries similarly, such as commodity prices, international financial conditions, and global demand.

Our latest Regional Economic Outlook: Western Hemisphere examines this question, quantifying the importance of spillovers from Brazil to the rest of South America.

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Filed under: Economic outlook, Economic research, Emerging Markets, Employment, Español, Finance, Globalization, growth, IMF, Inequality, International Monetary Fund, Investment, Latin America, Politics | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

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