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How To Deal With Failed Banks

2019-03-14T09:56:10-04:00July 3, 2018|

By Deniz Igan

July 3, 2018

Versions in Español, Português

Reforms since the global financial crisis have made bail-ins a credible option and bail-outs less likely (photo: iStock by Getty Images)

During the global financial crisis, policymakers faced a steep trade-off in handling bank failures. Using public funds to rescue failing banks (bail-outs) could weaken market discipline and lead to excessive risk taking—the moral hazard effect. […]

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Infrastructure Investment: Part of Africa’s Solution

2017-04-14T01:52:13-04:00October 28, 2014|

Antoinette SayehBy Antoinette M. Sayeh

Tremendous efforts are under way to upgrade sub-Saharan Africa’s infrastructure. But the needs on the ground are still immense as evidenced by the frequent electricity blackouts, poor roads, and insufficient access to clean water in many countries.

Infrastructure is one of the key challenges facing policymakers in the region—I experienced it first hand when I was finance minister of Liberia before coming to the IMF. The benefits are fairly clear: with improved […]

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China PMI Batters Global Markets…Are you kidding me?

2017-04-14T02:10:19-04:00February 3, 2014|

Steve BarnettSteven Barnett

(Version in  中文)

“Economic Shifts in U.S. and China Batter Markets” continuing “Stocks Slide Globally…Investors Head for Exits” read the front page headline in last week’s New York Times. Not sure about the U.S. part, I’ll leave that to others. But, as for China, this seems quite a stretch. Could be the pundits are erring in blaming the market slide on China, or perhaps the markets are misreading news coming out of China.

The purported China trigger was a survey of manufacturers. The Purchasing […]

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The Ties That Bond Us: What Demand For Government Debt Can Tell Us About the Risks Ahead

2017-04-15T14:00:03-04:00January 17, 2013|

It has become apparent in recent years is that advanced economy government bond markets can also experience investor outflows, and associated runs. Our new research shows that advanced economies’ exposure to refinancing risk and changes in government borrowing costs depend mainly on who is holding the bonds— the demand side for government debt. Tracking who owns what, when and for how long can shed some light on potential risks in advanced economies’ government debt markets.
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Time Not On Our Side: Tough Decisions Needed to Strengthen Financial Stability

2017-04-15T14:01:30-04:00October 10, 2012|

As recognized in our Global Financial Stability Report, actions taken by the European Central Bank have helped remove investors’ worst fears. Now policymakers at both the national and euro area level will need to build on these. The stakes are high. For instance, if pressures continue, total assets of major banks in Europe could shrink by as much as $2.8 trillion, possibly leading to a contraction in credit supply in the "periphery" by 9 percent by the end of 2013.
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