Nobel Prize | IMF Blog

The First Wealth

"The first wealth is health,” American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote in 1860.

Emerson’s quote, cited by Harvard economist and health expert David E. Bloom in Finance and Development’s lead article, reminds us that good health is the foundation on which to build—a life, a community, an economy.

Humanity has made great strides, developing vaccines and medical techniques that allow us to live longer, healthier lives. Other developments—such as increased access to clean water and sanitation—have helped beat back long-standing ills and pave the way for better health.

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By IMFBlog| December 8th, 2014|Advanced Economies, Africa, Economic research, Emerging Markets, Financial Crisis, Globalization, IMF, International Monetary Fund, Low-income countries, Transition, Uncategorized|

Which Way the Wind Blows

By Jeff Hayden

You can call this edition of F&D magazine our Bob Dylan issue. It may seem odd for an economics magazine to draw inspiration from the legendary singer/songwriter, but one of his most famous lines, “The times, they are a-changin,’” reverberated through our corridors as we put together this special issue on the global economy’s past and future.

We weren’t humming the tune to pass the time. The lyrics seemed especially relevant to us this year, as we mark the 70th anniversary of the IMF and World Bank and the 50th anniversary of F&D. The world has seen a staggering amount of change in the past seven decades.

So, with these two anniversaries in mind and with Dylan’s ode to changing times in the air, we focused our attention on the transformation of the global economy—looking back and looking ahead. We wanted to address the question, what will the global economy look like in another 70 years?

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By IMFBlog| September 2nd, 2014|Economic outlook, Economic research, Financial Crisis, Globalization, growth, IMF, Inequality, International Monetary Fund, Reform, Uncategorized|

Economics – New Links for Students from the IMF

The IMF's Finance & Development magazine has recently published two helpful online compilations of articles that may be useful to students and those interested in economic issues. They are rich collections of material that are totally free!! They are a collection of profiles of leading economists and some clearly written explanations of fundamental economic terms.

By IMFBlog| May 20th, 2012|Africa, Asia, Civil Society, Debt Relief, Economic Crisis, Economic outlook, Economic research, Emerging Markets, Employment, Europe, Finance, Financial Crisis, G-20, Global Governance, growth, IMF, Inequality, International Monetary Fund, Investment, Latin America, LICs, Low-income countries, Middle East, Multilateral Cooperation, Politics, Public debt|

iMFdirect—Our Top 10 Posts

As iMFdirect looks back at two years since our blog on global economics was launched in August 2009, we've compiled a list of the posts that have drawn the most attention.

By IMFBlog| August 21st, 2011|Advanced Economies, Africa, Asia, Economic Crisis, Economic outlook, Economic research, Europe, Financial Crisis, Financial regulation, Fiscal policy, G-20, Globalization, growth, IMF, Inequality, International Monetary Fund, Latin America, LICs, Middle East, Multilateral Cooperation, Public debt, recession|

New Policy Ideas for a New World: Interview with Robert Solow

There has been plenty of reflection, during the past few years, on the causes of the global financial crisis. But, last month’s conference at the IMF focused on taking what we’ve learned from the crisis and looking toward the future of economic policy. Nobel Prize winning economist, Robert Solow, was among those who brought interesting perspectives and a wealth of experience to the conference discussions. Listen to Professor Solow’s interview and what he has to say about the main challenges for policymakers today, and the future of monetary and fiscal policy.

By IMFBlog| April 2nd, 2011|Economic Crisis, Economic research, International Monetary Fund|