Ideas to Action:
Independent research for global prosperity
There are three critical and urgent issues that should rise to the top of the agenda for the upcoming meetings of the G20 and the IMF and World Bank. IMF shareholders should seize the moment to give the Fund a mandate to develop feasible but fit-for-purpose proposals in these areas.
How could the IMF's special drawing rights support developing countries to recover from COVID-19.
When the finance ministers of the G20 countries set up an Eminent Persons Group 18 months ago, many observers were both hopeful and skeptical about the likely outcome. Now that the EPG’s report is out, what’s the verdict on how transformative its efforts will be?
Why should countries invest in human capital? As emerging technologies impact economies and societies, how can we ensure that the most vulnerable are protected? Who will step up to finance the SDGs? Next week’s Annual Meetings of the World Bank and the IMF will convene 13,000 global policymakers, private sector executives, academics, and civil society members in Bali, Indonesia as they work to address these questions and more.
Bad news from Argentina: The government has been tampering with inflation statistics for several years (publishing official rate as 8 percent compared to independent estimates greater than 20 percent). Now it is imposing big fines ($100,000) on private consulting firms and individuals producing private estimates. And where is the IMF on this issue? In deference to its member Argentina it publishes the official estimate with a footnote suggesting private estimates are much greater. More background (in Spanish) can be found
IMF governance reforms were agreed the week before the G20 Summit. One decision – to increase IMF resources but not by much – may matter for the IMF’s role in a still-unsettled Eurozone – if Ireland’s problem becomes Portugal’s and so on.
For a full and nicely balanced assessment of the reforms from Ted Truman, including on resources, go here. Among other things, unpacks a couple of little-known and little-understood facts that are (though he doesn’t say so directly) about the role of the USA – the poor man with good ideas.
Last weekend’s communiqué from the G-20 finance ministers is a first step to bridge the divide in the ongoing currency wars. I find both hope and disappointment in the Communiqué. It is very positive that the G-20 ministers have called for the IMF to help identify countries with policies leading to large and unsustainable imbalances. This is a step in the right direction, although no specific quantitative indicators have yet been advanced.
The big headline from Pittsburgh was the G-20 officially becoming the recognized grouping on “global economic issues”, eclipsing forever the nearly four-decade role of the G-7/8.
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.
This post originally appeared as a column in India's Business Standard.
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