More than half of the world’s population lives in cities, and it’s expected that almost 70 percent will live in urban areas by 2050. People are attracted to cities for the economic and social opportunities they offer. But if the COVID pandemic taught us anything, it’s that population density presents significant health risks. David Cutler is a Professor of Economics at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and the Chan School of Public Health. Cutler and his Harvard colleague Edward Glaeser write about Cities After the Pandemic in the December issue of Finance and Development. In this podcast, David Cutler discusses the article with journalist Rhoda Metcalfe. He says cities now need to put more emphasis on public health to keep economies healthy.
Transcript: https://bit.ly/3UHR6X6
Read at IMF.org/FandD
After decades of being shrouded in suspicion and controversy, nuclear energy is emerging as a viable clean alternative to oil and gas. The war in Ukraine has turned post-pandemic energy shortages into a full-blown energy crisis and nuclear power plants across Europe that were destined to close will continue to operate. Ted Nordhaus is the Executive Director of the Breakthrough Institute, which looks for technological solutions to environmental problems. Nordhaus and coauthor Juzel Lloyd published an article titled The Nuclear Resurgence, in the December edition of Finance and Development. In this podcast. Nordhaus discusses the benefits of nuclear energy with Journalist Rhoda Metcalfe. Transcript: https://bit.ly/3Uq4yim
Read The Nuclear Resurgence at IMF.org/FandD
Events of the last three years have made life difficult on many levels for millions of people around the world. And while expecting more support from social and financial institutions during hard times is nothing new, the recent rise in prices has left people angry and questioning the efficacy of the social contract between the government and its citizenry. Justin Wolfers is a Professor of Economics and Social Policy at the University of Michigan. In this podcast, he says there has never been a better time to reinvent- for the first time in decades perhaps centuries, the institutions that foster social cohesion.
Transcript: http://bit.ly/3XKUNy7
Economic progress improves lives, but it can also clash with some of the bigger development problems we face, like gender equality and the environment. Seema Jayachandran believes striking that balance is key to making economic development work for everyone. Jayachandran’s research has helped change gender attitudes in India’s schools, and conserve climate-critical forests in Uganda. Seema Jayachandran is a Professor of Economics and Public Affairs at Princeton University and serves on the board of directors of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab. In this podcast, Jayachandran talks about her work with journalist Rhoda Metcalfe as part of a special IMF series on extraordinary Women in Economics.
Transcript: http://bit.ly/3tW9Wz4
Inflation is high virtually everywhere, but what’s pushing prices to record levels in Europe is not necessarily what’s fueling inflation in the United States. The European Central Bank and the Federal Reserve share a common problem and similar financial tools to fight it, but Europe’s supply-dominated inflation and America’s mostly demand-dominated inflation require slightly different approaches. Philip Lane is Chief Economist for the European Central Bank. In this podcast, he says finding the “sweet spot” between fiscal and monetary policies will allow for continued support to vulnerable Europeans hard hit by high energy prices and double-digit inflation, while not further straining public finances. Transcript: http://bit.ly/3X55sU2
Philip Lane participated in the IMF’s Jacques Polak Annual Research Conference. Watch the Webcast at IMF.org
Economic outlooks don’t come easy in the current environment but the latest Regional Economic Outlook for sub-Saharan Africa proved to be particularly challenging. Its title Living on the Edge tells part of the story but in this podcast, economist Wenjie Chen walks us through the research behind the new report. Chen is a deputy head in the Regional Studies Division and part of the team of macroeconomists who dissect regional trends to come up with key priorities for policymakers.
Transcript: https://bit.ly/3U6lUBy
Read the report at IMF.org
Cryptocurrencies have grabbed news headlines with their dramatic highs and lows, and their proponents argue they could revolutionize the financial system, making it faster and fairer. But is the cryptocurrency craze dragging us all into dangerous waters? Hilary Allen is a professor of law at American University and studies the impact of new financial technologies on financial stability. Allen is also the author of The Superficial Allure of Crypto published in the September edition of Finance and Development. In this podcast, Allen sits down with journalist Rhoda Metcalfe to discuss the risks associated with cryptocurrencies and why she thinks that they simply cannot deliver their claimed benefits. Transcript: https://bit.ly/3eJTuOh
Read The Superficial Allure of Crypto at IMF.org/FandD
Amid growing calls to deglobalize the economy, Raghuram Rajan says not so fast. Rajan, a former Governor of the Bank of India and former IMF Chief Economist, delivered this year's Per Jacobsson Lecture, in which he argues that continued globalization is our best chance to tackle climate change.
Transcript: https://bit.ly/3EVhCIC
Watch the webcast of the Per Jacobsson Lecture at IMF.org
Rising risks to the inflation outlook and rapidly changing views about the likely pace of monetary policy tightening have been dominant themes affecting financial stability. The latest Global Financial Stability Report (GFSR) says the Russian invasion of Ukraine has also exerted a material drag on the global recovery from the pandemic and increased financial vulnerabilities. Fabio Natalucci heads the GFSR and Global Financial Markets Monitoring. In this podcast, he says with inflation now at a multi-decade high and tightening financial conditions, it will take time for investors and policymakers to adjust to the new world.
Transcript: https://bit.ly/3Ml5h21
Read the full report at IMF.org/GFSR
Read the blog at blogs.imf.org
With shock upon shock hitting the world economy in the last three years, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva's customary opening speech to the Annual Meetings warned of a darker global outlook and emphasized the need for the world to come together to deal with the consequences. The speech was delivered to an audience of students at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service and presided over by Dean Joel S. Hellman and Georgetown University President John J. DeGioia.
Transcript: https://bit.ly/3MgciB9
How can multilateral institutions like the IMF help close the gender gap? IMF Senior Advisor on Gender, Dr. Ratna Sahay joins Jason Mitchell, Head of Responsible Investment Research at Man Group, on their A Sustainable Future podcast to talk about how gender disparities hurt economic growth. Dr. Sahay has been a gender equality pioneer over the years- helping to break down barriers within her own institution. She now heads the IMF's first strategy toward mainstreaming gender into its core work. Transcript: https://bit.ly/3dNaCm1
Go to man.com/ri-podcast to see more episodes of A Sustainable Future with Jason Mitchell.
The Michel Camdessus Central Banking Lecture is an annual event honoring the IMF's longest-serving Managing Director. This year's lecture was presented by François Villeroy de Galhau, Governor of the Banque De France, and introduced by IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva. In his lecture, Governor de Galhau says today's multiple crises are challenging public trust in central banks. Transcript: https://bit.ly/3Sna8Bx
Go to IMF.org to watch the webcast of the entire event including a post-lecture discussion.
While consumers' expectations of where prices are going are something that economists have been tracking for a long time, understanding how those expectations are formed provides valuable insight toward controlling inflation. New research by economists Carlo Pizzinelli (IMF), Peter Andre (Briq Institute), Christopher Roth (University of Cologne), and Johannes Wohlfart (University of Copenhagen) shows a surprising divide between what experts think and consumers believe drives inflation and other economic trends. Carlo Pizzinelli is the author of an article in the latest Finance and Development based on the study. In this podcast, Pizzinelli sits down with Journalist Rhoda Metcalfe to discuss how the collective consumer mind influences economic policy. Transcript: https://bit.ly/3RMPYAv
Read the study: https://bit.ly/3RrXmlb
Welcome to the 5th and final episode of Fintech Forward, the IMF podcast that focuses on financial technology. Hosted by IMF economist Tara Iyer, the special 5-part series draws from the expertise of the IMF Monetary and Capital Markets Department (MCM) to better understand the impact of emerging technologies on financial systems and local economies around the world. In this podcast, MCM's May Khamis talks about how the IMF's Financial Stability Assessment Programs, which started in the early 2000s, are adapting to the rapid rise of FinTech.
Transcript: https://bit.ly/3wJ9HZM
Sanctions are not new, but they deliver bigger global shocks and are easier to avoid than at any time in history. Nicholas Mulder's latest book, The Economic Weapon, the Rise of Sanctions as a Tool of Modern War, looks at sanctions regimes of the past to better understand the implications of today's sweeping sanctions against Russia. In this podcast, Mulder says we need to think more carefully about crafting macroeconomic policy at a global level to offset the negative effects that the sanctions are having on third countries. Transcript: https://bit.ly/3wBUZnq
Read Nick Mulder's article in Finance and Development at IMF.org/fandd
Welcome to episode 4 of Fintech Forward, the IMF podcast that focuses on financial technology. Hosted by IMF economist Tara Iyer, the special 5-part series draws from the expertise of the IMF Monetary and Capital Markets Department (MCM) to better understand the impact of emerging technologies on financial systems and local economies around the world. In this podcast, MCM's Aditya Narain and Marina Moretti say regulation of financial technology aims to protect consumers and markets, not stifle innovation. Transcript: https://bit.ly/3wkEMCY
Economic growth depends on several factors, but a new study (forthcoming) by Eric Hanushek and Ludger Woessmann shows nothing is more important for development than equitable education. Hanushek is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, and in this podcast, he says skill differences account for three-quarters of cross-country variations in long-term growth. Hanushek also says the global skills deficit is immense, with two-thirds or more of the world’s youth never reaching even basic skill levels. Hanushek and Woessmann are coauthors of The Basic Skills Gap published in Finance and Development where they say reaching the goal of global universal basic skills would raise future world GDP by $700 trillion over the remainder of the century.
Transcript: https://bit.ly/3AqSxCE
Read the article at IMF.org/fandd
Mahatma Gandhi once said, "Live simply so that others may simply live.” In this podcast, we hear from an economist who believes there is more to poverty reduction than just money. Sabina Alkire began her long career helping the poor doing volunteer work alongside the likes of Mother Teresa- then studying theology before turning to economics. Today, Alkire heads the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) and is one of the creators of the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), which the United Nations uses to identify and help the most vulnerable people in the world. Journalist, Rhoda Metcalfe spoke with Sabina Alkire to discuss her work for our special series on extraordinary Women in Economics. Transcript: https://bit.ly/3bWv56W
Welcome to episode 3 of Fintech Forward, the IMF podcast that focuses on financial technology. Hosted by IMF economist Tara Iyer, this special 5-part series draws from the expertise of the IMF Monetary and Capital Markets Department (MCM) to better understand the impact of emerging technologies on financial systems and local economies around the world. In this podcast, Fabio Natalucci, Head of the Global Financial Stability Report, discusses the growing correlation between crypto and equity markets and what that means for financial stability. Transcript: https://bit.ly/3zJn2lO
Inflation has pushed up prices for almost everything, but rising food prices could mean life or death for people in countries already struggling with conflict, economic downturns, and the effects of climate change. Maximo Torero Cullen is Chief Economist for the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization, which tracks global food security. In this podcast, Torero says wheat and fertilizer supply shortages have driven up prices and increased food import bills for the most vulnerable countries by more than 25 billion dollars, putting 1.7 billion people at risk of going hungry. Transcript: https://bit.ly/3vlHUht
Welcome to episode 2 of Fintech Forward, a new IMF podcast series with a focus on financial technology. Hosted by IMF economist Tara Iyer, Fintech Forward draws from the expertise of the IMF Monetary and Capital Markets Department (MCM) to better understand the impact of emerging technologies on financial systems and local economies around the world. In this podcast, MCM Deputy Director, Dong He, discusses how central bank digital currencies (CBDC) are set to transform the global monetary system.
Transcript: https://bit.ly/3v2T8rb
The energy crises of the early 70s, the 80s, and the early 2000s all had their challenges, but none were so intertwined with other emergencies like a war in Europe, climate change, and a global pandemic. Daniel Yergin won the Pulitzer Prize and many other accolades for his writing on the political economy of global energy. His latest book The New Map: Energy, Climate and the Clash of Nations looks at where today's energy markets are headed and the geopolitics of an energy transition from hydrocarbons to renewable energy. In this podcast, Yergin says renewables use a lot more minerals than people realize and will move us from the world of big oil to a world of big shovels.
Transcript: https://bit.ly/3uMI4OO
Daniel Yergin is Vice Chairman of S&P Global.
Albert Einstein once said, "In the midst of every crisis, lies great opportunity." But while the war in Ukraine has sparked crises on several fronts, the opportunities are not all that obvious at this point. Historians can help connect those lines by looking back at how we emerged from history's darkest hours. Patricia Clavin is Professor of Modern History at Oxford University. In this podcast, journalist Rhoda Metcalfe asks Clavin what the geopolitical fallout from the war might mean for globalization. Transcript: https://bit.ly/3RdufCi
Read Patricia Clavin's article Turbulence and the Lessons of History in the June issue of Finance and Development. IMF.org/FandD
While international financial institutions work with policymakers to help countries navigate their way through the myriad of disruptions in the global economy of late, the private sector plays a critical role in catalyzing investment that will help bring long-term solutions. In this podcast, Alphabet and Google Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat and IMF First Deputy Managing Director Gita Gopinath discuss the growing number of challenges facing the global economy and the opportunities where the private sector can help.
Transcript: https://bit.ly/39X0g0S
The war in Ukraine and the rise of emerging market economies have opened a new chapter in international relations, with important implications for the global economic order. Like an earthquake, the war has an epicenter, located in Russia and Ukraine, but its seismic waves are impacting economies far and wide and revealing a shift in the underlying geopolitical tectonic plates. In this podcast, IMF Chief Economist, Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas discusses what fragmentation of the global economy might mean for the dominance of the US dollar in the international monetary and financial system.
Transcript: https://bit.ly/3N4ZOei
Read the article at IMF.org/fandd