Sub-Saharan Africa is slowly emerging from four turbulent years with higher growth expected for nearly two thirds of countries in the region. But while inflation has almost halved and debt has broadly stabilized, economies are still grappling with financing shortages and impending debt repayments. Wenjie Chen is deputy head of the team that publishes the Regional Economic Outlook for sub-Saharan Africa. In this podcast, she says the surging global demand for critical minerals key to renewable energy systems could help the region overcome the ongoing funding squeeze.   Transcript: https ..read more

As inflation slowly subsides and optimism pervades financial markets, the latest Global Financial Stability Report (GFSR) warns of potential setbacks. Fabio Natalucci and Jason Wu head the GFSR team. In this podcast, they discuss risks associated with debt and the private credit market, struggling real estate sectors in China and the US, cybersecurity, and a host of other risks to the much anticipated soft landing. Transcript: https://bit.ly/4axvy8z ..read more

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva kicks off the 2024 IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings from the Atlantic Council in Washington, DC, with her customary curtain raiser speech. Go to IMF.org to follow the Spring Meetings and find all the IMF flagship reports, including the World Economic Outlook, the Global Financial Stability Report, and the Fiscal Monitor. Webcast and transcript: https://bit.ly/4aRkmDg ..read more

Even optimal economic policies create winners and losers, and that’s where politics steps in. Trade liberalization is an example of a policy that can make a country better off as a whole, but what happens to workers who lose out to cheaper goods? Jeffry Frieden says while politics is often messy, it’s how society puts a value on things economists can’t measure. Frieden is a Professor of Government at Harvard University. Transcript: https://bit.ly/4cU34qZ Read A Place for Politics at IMF.org/fandd ..read more

For decades, the standard labor market model has been ruled by supply and demand, but a younger generation of labor economists is questioning that approach. Suresh Naidu is a Professor of Economics and International Public Affairs at Columbia University. He says while the supply and demand model is not wrong, it only tells part of the story. In this podcast, Naidu and journalist Rhoda Metcalfe discuss why today’s labor market model sometimes fails to reflect the real world.  Transcript: https://bit.ly/4aHBqvz  ..read more

It wasn’t that long ago when retiring in one’s 50s was an achievable goal. But with life expectancy steadily rising and pension systems doomed to fall short, the prospects for an early retirement are fading fast. Olivia Mitchell wrote the book on retirement and modern pension research and has spent her career helping people improve their financial literacy. Mitchell is a Professor of Economics and Public Policy at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. She sat down with journalist Rhoda Metcalfe to discuss the challenges of today’s economy for Americans planning their golden yea ..read more

John Maynard Keynes was one of the most influential economists of the 20th century and the father of modern macroeconomics. His novel lectures at King’s College, Cambridge, inspired economists and policymakers of the time and continues to do so a hundred years later. In this podcast, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva delivers a speech inspired by one of Keynes’ lectures to a young audience at the very same King’s College. Transcript and webcast: https://bit.ly/3Tv4lfi ..read more

Economists build models based on basic assumptions of human behavior. But people are complicated, right? Do Germans who grew up on opposite sides of the Berlin Wall make the same financial decisions today? Ulrike Malmendier is a behavioral economist whose innovative research has shown that experiential learning rewires the brain to make decisions based on past experiences. In this podcast, Malmendier and Journalist Rhoda Metcalfe discuss how behavioral economics is helping to build better economic models. Transcript: https://bit.ly/3x3sWjZ  Read New Lessons from Behavioral Economics at&nb ..read more

Countless resources and billions of dollars have been directed at poverty alleviation over the decades and yet almost 10 percent of the world’s population is still struggling to survive... not only in developing countries but in rich countries too. Why do so many anti-poverty efforts fall short? Martin Kalisa says there is more to poverty than income, and poor people can help design projects that are more likely to succeed. Kalisa is the Deputy Director of ATD Fourth World, an anti-poverty organization that builds research teams that include poor people to better understand their needs. Kalisa ..read more

Industrial policy had its heyday in the 1950s and 60s when governments moved to boost national competitiveness amid burgeoning global trade. Economists have been predicting the return of industrial policy of late- and there’s no question it’s back, but what does today’s industrial policy look like? Michele Ruta is a trade expert at the IMF, and along with some colleagues compiled a new dataset that shows the extent to which new industrial policies are being used and what their real impact might be on the global economy. Transcript: https://bit.ly/49LjmQW Check out the IMF’s global trade webpag ..read more