When it comes to cooperation, humans and chimpanzees still have much in common. Perhaps that's not surprising given humans share over 98 percent of our DNA with chimps. But in a recent article in Finance and Development, economist Ruchir Agarwal argues the 2 percent genetic difference propels humanity’s success, but also its potential for disaster. In this podcast, Agarwal asks whether humans have evolved enough to escape “chimpanzee politics” and confront the greatest risk our species is facing—climate change.  

Transcript: https://bit.ly/3Bk80C0

Read the Article at IMF.org/fandd

As climate change looms ever larger, most economists agree that a carbon tax would go a long way toward reducing emissions. But carbon taxes and related policies often face deep political constraints, and many are looking at sustainable investing as a way forward. Economist Divya Kirti is coauthor along with Dalya Elmalt and Deniz Igan of a working paper titled Limits to Private Climate Mitigation. In this podcast, Kirti talks about how such market forces could help make meaningful progress in addressing climate change.   Transcript: https://bit.ly/3mDPYXj

Special Drawing Rights (SDR) are international reserve assets and used as the accounting unit for IMF transactions with its member countries. Earlier this month, in a historic multilateral response to the pandemic, the IMF board of governors approved a new SDR allocation of $650 billion, the largest in the institution's history. Ceyla Pazarbasioglu heads the Strategy, Policy and Review Department at the IMF. In this podcast, she says the SDR allocation will go a long way toward helping vulnerable countries and minimize the dangerous divergence in recovery paths around the world.  Transcript: https://bit.ly/3y6inY1

Inclusion doesn't just happen; it takes policies that intentionally serve the very specific purpose of ensuring inclusion. That is the focus of Rohini Pande's work these days as the Director of Yale's Economic Growth Center. Pande is one of the most influential development economists of her generation, always looking for ways for the poor to increase their influence and claim their fair share of growth. In this podcast, Pande speaks with journalist Rhoda Metcalfe about how tackling poverty depends less on direct aid and more on creating effective democratic institutions so that vulnerable populations can push their representatives to implement redistributive policies.

Transcript: https://bit.ly/37lughM

Read Rohini Pande's profile at IMF.org/fandd