Chart of the WeekHigher Growth. Lower Crime?
Central America remains one of the world’s most violent regions, where about 4.5 percent of the world’s homicides occur. The region has only about 0.5 percent of the world’s population. […]
Illuminating Dark Corners of the Global Economy
This issue of Finance & Development reminds me of a Sufi parable. A woman sees a mystic searching for something outside his door. […]
Chart of the Week: Mexico’s Spike in Crime Hurts the Economy
December 18, 2018
A woman sells street food at a market stall in Mexico City, Mexico: the country’s spike in crime is hurting small businesses’ profitability (photo: Jonah_Photos/iStock)
The human and economic costs of crime in Mexico have risen to historic highs. 2017 was Mexico’s most violent year on record with over 25,000 homicides—a 50 percent jump since 2015. […]
Chart of the Week: Crime, Joblessness, and Youth in the Caribbean
By IMFBlog
February 12, 2018
Weak growth in the Caribbean reduces economic opportunities for young people, increasing their vulnerability to illegal activities and crime (photo: IMF)
Youth unemployment in the Caribbean—among the highest in the world—and crime are key bottlenecks to growth in the region.
In our Chart of the Week, we show that the 2008 global financial crisis had an especially strong effect on the unemployment rate for those between the ages of 15 and 24, which jumped on average by 5 percentage points between 2007 and 2013—from 21 percent to 26 percent. In some countries (for example, the Bahamas, Barbados, and Jamaica), youth unemployment rates are nearly three times that of those aged 30 and over. […]
Avoiding a Lost Generation
Young people were innocent bystanders in the global financial crisis, but they may well end up paying the heaviest price for the policy mistakes that have led us to where we are today. Young people will have to pay the taxes to service the debts accumulated in recent years.
Stepping Up the Fight Against Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing
Building on the results of the IMF's recent work on the risks from money laundering and the macroeconomic impacts of money laundering and predicate crime, the Fund is seeking to integrate AML/CFT more fully into the Fund’s surveillance and Financial Sector Assessment Programs.