The Power of Cooperation


by iMFdirect

The planet’s most successful species are the great cooperators: ants, bees, termites, and humans.

In an article in the new issue of Finance & Development magazine, President Bill Clinton shares his experience working with governments, business, and civil society as part of his Clinton Global Initiative.

He says they are making the most progress in places where people have formed networks of creative cooperation where stakeholders come together to do things better, faster and cheaper than any could alone.

Mideast Braces Itself for a Multi-Year Transition


By Masood Ahmed

(Version in عربي)

This week I’ve been traveling extensively across the region, both listening and learning. I am writing this from Dubai, where we have just launched our Regional Economic Outlook. And earlier this week, I had the opportunity to participate in the GCC Ministerial Meeting in Abu Dhabi and the World Economic Forum’s special meeting on Economic Growth and Job Creation in the Arab World in Jordan.

My core takeaway from all these events is that the underlying sense of optimism in the promise of the Arab Spring is very much there, but there is also a growing recognition that managing the short-term transition will be even more difficult with the persistence of economic pressures and rising social expectations.

Not an easy year

2011 has not been an easy year for many countries in the Middle East and North Africa. The combination of domestic unrest and external uncertainty has resulted in a marked downturn in economic activity, and this is expected to pick up only gradually over the coming year. (more…)

IMF Annual Meetings – Key reports out


The IMF has just published its latest forecast for the global economy, the World Economic Outlook. After a deep recession, global economic growth has turned positive, driven by wide-ranging, coordinated public intervention that has supported demand and reduced uncertainty and systemic risk in financial markets, according to the report.

“The recovery has started. Financial markets are healing,” says IMF Chief Economist Olivier Blanchard. But he warned the recovery will be slow. “The current numbers shuld not fool governments into thinking that the crisis is over,” he said.

The Fund also published its Global Financial Stability Report.  It also sees a recovery, but much more needs to be done to heal the international financial  system, including repairing bank balance sheets. Read the IMF Survey story.

 

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