When esteemed economist and author Eswar Prasad set out to write his latest book, it was to be about the promise of some recent trends within the world’s economic and power structures, but he found something darker. The Doom Loop is about what happens when the positive forces that normally bring stability begin to work against each other. In this podcast, Prasad says that the dynamics of this negative feedback loop have led to the erosion of institutions across the globe.
Transcript: https://bit.ly/4d5i8Df
While it is true that death and taxes are unavoidable, good tax policies can help delay the inevitable. So-called sin taxes on alcohol, tobacco, sugar, and other harmful products can raise revenues and reduce public healthcare spending. In this podcast, economist Christoph Rosenberg says sin taxes are relatively easy to collect and, done right, can nudge people towards healthier lifestyles.
Transcript: https://bit.ly/4ttwKmI
Read the article Finance & Development magazine. IMF.org/fandd
African economies began tapping into overseas markets for funding in the early 2000s, after debt burdens had been alleviated by the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative. However, surging interest rates on dollar- and euro-denominated loans in recent years have prompted countries to turn to domestic markets for their borrowing needs. Amadou Sy heads the IMF Regional Studies division. In this podcast, he says there are benefits to issuing debt in local markets and in local currency.
Transcript: https://traffic.libsyn.com/imfpodcast/Amadou_Sy-transcript-IMF_Podcast.pdf
Read the article at IMF.org/FandD
Unprecedented debt levels are pressing governments to make tough choices. While aging populations demand more public spending, resources are stretched thin, and the days of cheap borrowing that allowed the debt burden to be kicked down the road are behind us. Rodrigo Valdés and Era Dabla-Norris head the IMF Fiscal Affairs department and write about high debt and hard choices in the March edition of Finance & Development magazine. In this podcast, they say the erosion of public trust is a factor in reconciling competing fiscal priorities.
Transcript: https://traffic.libsyn.com/imfpodcast/Valdes-Dabla-Norris-AUDIO-transcript-IMF_Podcast.pdf
Read the article at IMF.org/fadd
The most prosperous of civilizations were the most open. The Romans, for example, expanded their empire by integrating the populations they conquered, creating a melting pot of new ideas. Johan Norberg’s latest book, Peak Human, examines the rise and fall of seven golden age civilizations. In this podcast, he says that if openness to learning and trade are what great societies make, building walls to protect their dominance often sparks their demise. Norberg is a historian and senior fellow at the Cato Institute.
Transcript: https://traffic.libsyn.com/imfpodcast/Johan_Norberg-transcript-IMF_Podcast.pdf
Read the article Finance & Development: IMF.org/fandd
There is strength in numbers, and the idea of European integration through a single market was to capitalize on the EU as a whole. However, the single market is a product of the early 90s, and EU member states now appear reticent to pool sovereignty to the degree required to counter the geopolitical challenges of today’s world. Enrico Letta is President of the Jacques Delors Institute and a champion of Delors’ vision of creating a fully integrated European economic space. Letta’s 2024 report, Much More than a Market, argues that adaptation of the single market should include all sectors rather than a select few and that fragmentation is holding Europe back.
Transcript: https://traffic.libsyn.com/imfpodcast/Enrico_Letta-transcript-IMF_Podcast.pdf