Becoming an economist in the 1970s- for a woman, was a lonely road. When Clair Brown joined the Department of Economics at UC Berkeley in 1974 alongside people like Nobel laureate George Akerlof, she was the only female faculty member. But thanks to Brown's prodding, the department hired more women and Berkeley has since become well known for its female economists. Brown has always seen the power of diversity in her work. In 2013 she helped create a new graduate program called Development Engine...
May 05, 2022•22 min
La reprise économique en Afrique subsaharienne a surpris à la hausse au second semestre 2021, mais ces progrès ont été compromis cette année par l'invasion russe de l'Ukraine. La guerre a déclenché un choc économique mondial qui frappe la région à un moment où la capacité de réaction des pays est minime, voire inexistante. Papa N'Diaye dirige l'équipe qui produit les Perspectives économiques régionales pour l'Afrique subsaharienne. Dans ce podcast, il affirme que la croissance a de nouveau ralen...
Apr 28, 2022•15 min
The economic recovery in sub-Saharan Africa surprised on the upside in the second half of 2021, but that progress has been jeopardized this year by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The war has triggered a global economic shock that is hitting the region at a time when countries’ ability to respond is minimal to nonexistent. Papa N’Diaye leads the team that produces the Regional Economic Outlook for sub-Saharan Africa. In this podcast, he says growth has slowed once again and will not be enough t...
Apr 28, 2022•14 min
The war in Ukraine has sparked one of the biggest refugee crises of modern times. So, can Europe afford to accommodate the millions of people coming across its borders? Giovanni Peri says while a crisis of this scale will imply significant upfront costs, the European Union is doing right by investing in the human capital of refugees. Peri heads the Global Migration Center at UC Davis, and in this podcast, he says Ukrainian migrants are an opportunity for many European countries that are experien...
Apr 22, 2022•26 min
While financial stability risks have risen on several fronts since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the latest Global Financial Stability Report (GFSR) says no global systemic event affecting financial institutions or markets has materialized so far. Fabio Natalucci heads the GFSR as well as IMF Global Financial Markets Monitoring. In this podcast, he says stronger banking systems, higher capital and higher liquidity have helped to absorb the shock, but an intensification of the war could fu...
Apr 19, 2022•16 min
Just as many countries were beginning to feel the grip of the pandemic start to ease, another global calamity is threatening the recovery. In her customary curtain-raiser speech to the IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said the war in Ukraine has disrupted millions of lives and many aspects of the global economy. Transcript : https://bit.ly/3KJjeFt Go to IMF.org to follow the Spring Meetings and find all the IMF flagship reports, including the World Econo...
Apr 14, 2022•22 min
Most people and virtually all businesses now use electronic money for their transactions, yet central banks are still dealing with what's known among economists as the paper currency problem, which limits central banks' ability to use deep negative rates to fight recessions. In this second episode of a two-part series on inflation, economists Miles Kimball and Ruchir Agarwal discuss how fully committing to an electronic money standard would allow central banks to break the zero lower bound assoc...
Apr 13, 2022•27 min
Everyone feels the pinch when inflation is on the rise and so the pressure on central banks to manage inflation rates has grown exponentially in recent weeks. In this first podcast of a two-part series on inflation, distinguished economists Miles Kimball and Ruchir Agarwal discuss how a robust negative interest rate policy can help central banks better control inflation and stabilize the economy. Transcript : https://bit.ly/3xlHFEK Miles Kimball is a professor at the University of Colorado, Boul...
Apr 08, 2022•22 min
The pandemic has sparked an enormous upheaval in education around the world. But in India and many other low-income countries where remote learning is often not an option, children's education has simply fallen off the rails. Yamini Aiyar is President of the Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi. In this podcast, Aiyar speaks with journalist Rhoda Metcalfe about how the digital divide has pushed poor kids into an educational deficit that could reverberate for years. Transcript : https://bit.ly...
Mar 31, 2022•15 min
The last two years have proven a test for the global financial system, and the nature of the crises is getting more complex by the day. In this podcast, Foreign Policy magazine's Ravi Agrawal asks the IMF's two top leaders how governments should respond to the growing number of challenges facing the global economy. Transcript : https://bit.ly/382IPKX Watch the webcast at https://foreignpolicy.com/events/...
Mar 25, 2022•29 min
Governments with strong balance sheets are known to recover from shocks more quickly. Yet many of them don't have balance sheets, or even know what assets and liabilities they have. The IMF estimates these often-overlooked global public assets at twice the value of global GDP. Ian Ball is a professor at Victoria University in Wellington and behind the New Zealand government’s net worth approach to determining its fiscal position. Ball published an article in Finance and Development about the ben...
Mar 16, 2022•18 min
As the world this week celebrates International Women's Day, hundreds of millions of women are living in conflict and fragility. IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva joined a special United Nations Security Council meeting to discuss women's economic inclusion as a key to building peace. In this podcast, Georgieva says women and girls are themselves powerful agents of change and gender equality can prevent conflict and foster stability. Transcript : https://bit.ly/3CuYcXA...
Mar 10, 2022•11 min
In this episode of Women in Economics, economist Laura Carvalho speaks with journalist Rhoda Metcalfe about how growing up in Brazil in the 90s during its currency swings and hyperinflation drove her to become one of the country's most influential economists. Carvalho is a Professor at the Department of Economics at the University of Sao Paulo and the Director of the Research Center in Macroeconomics of Inequality. Her book, Brazilian Waltz - From Boom to Economic Chaos, was a best seller. Carva...
Mar 08, 2022•22 min
Should the rich pay more taxes than the poor? Economists and public finance practitioners have traditionally focused on economic efficiency when answering questions like that, steering clear of any moral considerations that could be seen as subjective. But recent work by evolutionary moral psychologists suggests that a more human approach to policy decisions can lead to better policies that muster broader support. Paolo Mauro is Deputy Director in the IMF Fiscal Affairs Department. In this podca...
Mar 01, 2022•22 min
As part of the IMF Exchange speaker series, London School of Economics Director, Minouche Shafik and IMF Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva discuss how current economic trends are straining social safety nets and fueling disaffection among people across the globe. In her latest book What We Owe Each Other , Shafik argues the need for a new social contract. The discussion is moderated by CNN Anchor and Correspondent Eleni Giokos. The podcast is an abridged version of the conversation, you'll...
Feb 17, 2022•32 min
When was the last time you used cash? In his latest book, Eswar Prasad looks at a world, not that far off, where using cash will no longer be an option. Prasad is a professor of economics at Cornell University, and his book, The Future of Money , describes how digital currencies and other financial technologies are reshaping everything from consumer banking to monetary policy and international payments. In this podcast, he discusses the book with Finance and Development Magazine editor Chris Wel...
Feb 15, 2022•23 min
When the pandemic hit two years ago, millions of people quickly found themselves unable to work because of the nature of their jobs or because of the recession that ensued. But now, as economies are picking up- why are companies having such a hard time hiring workers? In this podcast, journalist Rhoda Metcalfe asks economists Carlo Pizzinelli and Ippei Shibata what's behind the labor shortage in many advanced economies. Shibata and Pizzinelli's latest research looks at current trends in the US a...
Feb 03, 2022•15 min
Fragile and conflict-affected states are home to nearly 1 billion people and confront some of the greatest challenges among the world’s economies. 220 million people live within 40 miles from a major conflict event and 155 million globally are acutely food insecure. Franck Bousquet is the deputy director, coordinating the Fund's work in fragile and conflict-affected states. In this podcast, Bousquet talks about the growing costs associated with fragility and conflict, and how the IMF is trying t...
Jan 31, 2022•21 min
Spending public funds efficiently and effectively is a challenge for governments around the world, but weak public finance management systems are holding back growth and development in Africa. Ken Opalo studies African legislatures and policymaking at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. In this podcast, Opalo says public spending does not adequately reflect taxpayers' priorities in many African countries because elected officials are often left out of the budget process. Transcrip...
Jan 11, 2022•19 min
Much has been said and written about the dangers of government borrowing. In their new book, In Defense of Public Debt, economic historian Barry Eichengreen and his co-authors trace the evolution of sovereign debt from the wars of medieval Europe through the Covid-19 crisis, illustrating public debt's many positive uses, from reacting to financial crises to building public works. In this podcast, Eichengreen discusses the book with Finance and Development Magazine’s Chris Wellisz. Transcript : h...
Dec 21, 2021•27 min
While the world has been focused on the pandemic for the past two years, the rapid rise of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias pose another threat to global public health. Nathaniel Counts is Senior VP for Behavioral Health Innovation at Mental Health America and Assistant Professor at Albert Einstein's School of Medicine. In this podcast, Counts says dementia will vastly increase across the globe as the population age rises with increasing life expectancy and have profound impacts on welf...
Dec 16, 2021•15 min
Despite all the money and health infrastructure available to them, some of the world's richest countries have suffered higher death rates from COVID-19 than many developing countries. Jay Patel is a researcher at the Global Health Governance Program at the University of Edinburgh and has coauthored along with colleague Devi Sridhar an article about pandemic preparedness in the December issue of Finance and Development. In this podcast, Patel tells journalist Rhoda Metcalfe that regardless of the...
Dec 09, 2021•18 min
For all its strengths in measuring a country's economy, GDP falls short when it comes to gauging the well-being of its residents. For example, per capita GDP numbers today suggest people in the US are better off now than they were before the pandemic, regardless of the enduring social and economic upheaval. The recognition that GDP cannot encompass many dimensions of well-being has prompted a search for measures that reflect a more complete account of what people care about. Miles Kimball is a P...
Dec 02, 2021•19 min
Pandemics pose significant macroeconomic costs but only recently have garnered the attention they deserve. In this podcast, economist Ruchir Agarwal, sits down with Peter Sands, Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, to discuss the role of macroeconomics in public health preparedness. Agarwal heads the IMF's Global Health and Pandemic Response Taskforce. Transcript : https://bit.ly/32KapKk Read the F&D article at IMF.org/fandd...
Dec 02, 2021•17 min
In this third episode of Women in Economics, distinguished British economist Diane Coyle speaks with journalist Rhoda Metcalfe about how the lack of diversity within the economic profession is holding it back. Coyle is the Bennett Professor of Public Policy at the University of Cambridge and author of several books, some of which challenge conventional economic wisdom such as GDP. In this podcast, Coyle says economists need to start working with other disciplines if they are to live up to the in...
Nov 18, 2021•20 min
It's been almost 2 years since the coronavirus began to disrupt economies across the globe. In this podcast, IMF Chief Economist Gita Gopinath asks Raghuram Rajan about inflation and his views on what Central Banks should be doing to minimize the damage caused by the pandemic. Rajan is a former Governor of the Bank of India and currently the Catherine Dusak Miller Distinguished Service Professor of Finance at Chicago Booth. This podcast is an abridged version of their discussion, you'll find a w...
Nov 12, 2021•31 min
Despite two brutal COVID-19 waves and the widespread disruptions that ensued, India's economy is set to be one of the fastest-growing major economies for this year and beyond. Following a sharp contraction in GDP last year, India's latest outlook shows growth is expected to rebound to 9.5 percent this year and 8.5 percent in FY2022/23. Luis Breuer is IMF Senior Representative to India, Nepal and Bhutan, and a coauthor of the report. In this podcast, Breuer says India is recovering thanks to its ...
Oct 27, 2021•18 min
La planète reste aux prises avec une pandémie qui dure et avec une accélération des changements climatiques. Les solutions à ces défis internationaux doivent mobiliser tous les pays et toutes les régions, y compris l’Afrique subsaharienne, qui possède la population la moins vaccinée au monde et des écosystèmes critiques. La croissance de la région devrait s’établir à 3,7 % en 2021, puis à 3,8 % en 2022. Cela fait suite à la forte contraction de 2020, mais représente toujours la reprise la plu...
Oct 22, 2021•10 min
The world remains in the grip of the pandemic and a seemingly accelerating pace of climate change. Solutions to these global problems must involve all countries and regions, especially sub-Saharan Africa, with the world’s least vaccinated population and critical ecosystems. Sub-Saharan Africa’s economy is set to expand by 3.7 percent in 2021 and 3.8 percent in 2022. This follows the sharp contraction in 2020, but still represents the slowest recovery relative to other regions. Papa N’Diaye leads...
Oct 22, 2021•12 min
The Women in Economics series showcases extraordinary work by extraordinary women in a field dominated by men. In this second episode, journalist Rhoda Metcalfe speaks with Jayati Ghosh, Professor of Economics at University of Massachusetts Amherst, whose work on gender issues and the public value of care work gives voice to the unpaid caregivers who form the economic base for societies around the world. In this podcast, Ghosh says our whole notion of productivity is skewed because most care wor...
Oct 20, 2021•22 min
