CGD Policy Blogs
Why the World Bank Is Right to Help Saudi Royalty Build Luxury Hotels in Africa
5/17/11
The IFC, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, has come under criticism, including apparently from Senator Patrick Leahy, for a recent loan to a company owned by a Saudi prince to build a 5-star hotel in Ghana’s capital, Accra. This Washington Times article highlights three main criticisms:
It’s 2010! Ten Actionable Ideas (Realized and Yet-to-be-realized) for a 21st-Century Global Development Agenda
2/22/10
I attended a conference convened and hosted by Jean-Michel Severino, the head of the French bilateral agency, outside Paris last week. The question participants addressed was: What should be the goals of the international development community in the post-MDG period after 2015? Should the MDGs be retrofitted and complemented with go
Birdsall Urges Pittsburgh G-20 Summit to Prepare for Next Global Crisis
9/10/09
CGD president Nancy Birdsall urged the United States to exercise leadership at the upcoming G20 Summit in Pittsburgh in a speech today at the Center for Global Development.
On Current Path, IFC Is Set to Become Bigger than the World Bank in Five Years
8/19/09
This blog entry also appeared on the Huffington Post.
Why Don't the Bretton Woods Sisters Offer Risk Insurance? (Could Governance Be Part of the Problem?)
3/20/09
Why have the IMF and the World Bank been so backward on risk management products -- an issue Guillermo Perry explores in a forthcoming CGD book? What is it about their governance, mandate, instruments and/or human nature that leads them like horses to water to lending, even defensive lending, during good times, in effect inviting them, for lack of prior development of insurance and savings products, to "indulge" in a new round of lending in bad times?
Can the MDBs Jump-Start the Market for Country Risk Management Tools?
4/21/08
CGD recently hosted a roundtable discussion on a set of important questions confronting the multilateral development banks (MDBs) as the market for their loans shrinks: can they help to foster a greatly expanded market for new risk management tools -- such as insurance and other hedging mechanisms -- to