F&D Magazine: A Mother’s Example

Posted on June 17, 2013 by iMFdirect

By: Jeffrey Hayden, Editor-in-Chief

FD June CoverNazareth College was my second home. As a child, I spent countless evenings roaming the small liberal arts college in Rochester, N.Y., where my mother headed the office of graduate studies and continuing education.­

Most of her students worked day jobs, attending class at night. For her, this made for late hours at the office—and for a complex juggling act: off to work in the morning to manage a staff, drop everything at 3 p.m. to rush home to fix dinner for the family, and then back to work around 5 p.m.—with me in tow—to staff the office until evening classes let out. Sleep and then repeat. This was the rhythm of my childhood.­

I thought a lot about those days as we put together the special feature on women at work in this issue of F&D—about her example, and about the many women who share in her experience and the many who do not.­

(more…)

Filed under: Emerging Markets, Employment, Finance, IMF, International Monetary Fund | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

An Open and Diverse Economy To Benefit All Algerians

Posted on March 18, 2013 by iMFdirect

Christine LagardeBy Christine Lagarde

(Version in عربي)

I was in Algiers last week, my first time as the Managing Director of the IMF. It was a good visit: we reaffirmed the special partnership between Algeria and the IMF, and I was able to gain a deeper insight into Algeria’s aspirations—and also its challenges in reaching a hopeful future.

(more…)

Filed under: Africa, International Monetary Fund | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

What We Can Do To Improve Women’s Economic Opportunities

Posted on March 8, 2013 by iMFdirect

Christine LagardeBy Christine Lagarde

Versions in  عربي, 中文, Français, 日本語, Русский, and Español

Today, I invite all of you to celebrate International Women’s Day. Let’s celebrate the incredible progress women have made over the past decades in different parts of society, playing a key role in economic life that our grandmothers worked for and dreamed about. Today, although men still dominate the executive suites in most professions, women all over the world hold high positions in the private sector and in public office. Women are no longer the Second Sex Simone de Beauvoir wrote about.

But far too many women face the most fundamental challenges: the right to safety and to choose the life they want.

Across the globe, fewer women than men are in paid employment, with only about 50 percent of working-age women participating in the labor force. In many countries, laws, regulations and social norms still constrain women’s possibilities to seek paid employment. And all over the world women conduct most of the work that remains unseen and unpaid, in the fields and in households.

(more…)

Filed under: Africa, Asia, Europe, growth, International Monetary Fund, Latin America, Middle East, Politics | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

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

(more…)

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 »

Japan Stands Up

Posted on August 1, 2012 by iMFdirect

By Jerry Schiff

(Version in  日本語)

As a Japanese proverb has it: “Knocked down seven times, get up eight.”

In a display of its resilience, Japan is getting up once again after the devastating earthquake and tsunami of a year ago.  But the world’s third largest economy still faces multiple challenges, and in our latest assessment of the country’s economy, the Japanese mission team at the International Monetary Fund has proposed a range of mutually reinforcing policies to strengthen confidence, raise growth and help restore Japan’s economic vitality.

A year and four months ago, Japan was reeling from the Great East Japan earthquake and accompanying devastation.  As well as the tragic loss of life, the economy was badly shaken.  Supply chain disruptions brought production in parts of Japan to a virtual halt. Yet, since then, the country has shown its resilience, with reconstruction contributing to strong first quarter growth of 4¾ percent.

But despite this hopeful sign, all is not well.

(more…)

Filed under: Advanced Economies, Asia, Civil Society, Economic Crisis, Economic outlook, Economic research, Financial Crisis, Fiscal policy, growth, IMF, Politics | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Lagarde on Women in Leadership

Posted on March 9, 2012 by iMFdirect

At the Women in the World Summit in New York on March 8, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde spoke to historian Niall Ferguson about the role of women in leadership around the world, saying it might be a safer place if more women were in charge. Men were bigger risk takers than women.

Filed under: Economic research, Employment, Finance, Globalization, growth, IMF, Inequality, International Monetary Fund, Low-income countries, recession | Tagged: , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Saudi Arabia: a Key Regional and Global Player

Posted on February 8, 2012 by iMFdirect

By Christine Lagarde

(Version in عربي)

I have just returned from Saudi Arabia, where I was welcomed with exceptional warmth and hospitality. It was my first visit as the Managing Director of the IMF.

It was a pleasure to be in Saudi Arabia, a country with rich heritage and culture. And a country that is seeking to chart a path that balances the drive for greater economic development and closer integration into the global economy with the strong desire to preserve the traditions and values of its people.

I had the privilege of meeting H.M. King Abdullah, senior government officials, and representatives of the private sector. Our discussions were productive and constructive, and we traded views on current global, regional, and domestic developments. (more…)

Filed under: Economic Crisis, Economic outlook, Employment, Europe, Global Governance, growth, IMF, Inequality, International Monetary Fund, Middle East, Multilateral Cooperation, recession | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

More Diversity will Help the IMF at Work

Posted on June 1, 2011 by iMFdirect

By iMFdirect

Nemat Shafik, who took over as IMF Deputy Managing Director in April, says she has been surprised by the vigor of internal policy debate at the IMF. “From the outside looking in, you have the impression that the IMF is a monolith with a very single-minded view of the world. When you are inside the Fund, what is really striking is how active the internal debate is,” she says.

At a time when the global economy is being buffeted by continued uncertainty in Europe, uprisings in the Middle East, and signs of overheating in some emerging market economies, there’s a lot to discuss. And, in addition to global economic problems, the IMF’s work environment has come under increased scrutiny, in particular how women are treated and its professional code of conduct.

In an interview, Ms. Shafik discusses some of these issues (more…)

Filed under: Africa, Europe, G-20, IMF, International Monetary Fund, LICs, Low-income countries, Middle East | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

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