Pensions | IMF Blog

Chart of the Week: A Golden Aging for Vietnam?

July 17, 2017

A worker in a silk factory in Dalat, Vietnam. Encouraging more women to join the workforce and shifting to higher productivity occupations will help the country overcome the impact of an aging population (photo: Gerhard Zwerger-Schoner/imageBroker/Newscom)

Vietnam’s demographic dividend is fast turning into a handicap.

For decades, working-age Vietnamese made up an expanding share of the population, boosting economic growth and helping to keep retirement and health spending in check. Continue reading “Chart of the Week: A Golden Aging for Vietnam?” »

By IMFBlog| July 17th, 2017|aging, Asia, developing countries, education, Employment, IMF, International Monetary Fund, labor force, productivity, Uncategorized|

Why Productivity Growth is Faltering in Aging Europe and Japan

By iMFdirect

Many countries are experiencing a combination of declining birth rates and increasing longevity. In other words, their populations are aging. And graying populations pose serious issues for people, policymakers, and society. Continue reading “Why Productivity Growth is Faltering in Aging Europe and Japan” »

By IMFBlog| December 9th, 2016|Advanced Economies, growth, health, International Monetary Fund, jobs|

Debt in a Time of Protests

As the world economy continues to struggle, people are taking to the streets by the thousands to protest painful cuts in public spending designed to reduce government debt and deficits. This fiscal fury is understandable. People want to regain the confidence they once had about the future when the economy was booming and more of us had jobs. But after a protracted economic crisis, this will take planning, fair burden-sharing, and time itself.

By IMFBlog| October 16th, 2012|Advanced Economies, Annual Meetings, Asia, Economic Crisis, Emerging Markets, Employment, Europe, Finance, Fiscal policy, growth, IMF, Inequality, International Monetary Fund, Politics, Public debt, recession|

Top 20 — iMFdirect’s Top 20 list

The IMF blog has helped stimulate considerable debate about economic policy in the current crisis, on events in Europe and around the world, on fiscal adjustment, on regulating the financial sector, and the future of macroeconomics, as economists learn lessons from the Great Recession. As readers struggled to understand the implications of the crisis, our most popular post by far was IMF Chief Economist Olivier Blanchard's Four Hard Truths, a look back at 2011 and the economic lessons for the future.

By IMFBlog| August 23rd, 2012|Advanced Economies, Africa, Asia, Economic Crisis, Economic research, Emerging Markets, Employment, Europe, Finance, Financial Crisis, Financial regulation, Fiscal policy, Fiscal Stimulus, Global Governance, Globalization, growth, IMF, Inequality, International Monetary Fund, Investment, Latin America, LICs, Low-income countries, Middle East, Multilateral Cooperation, Politics, Public debt, recession|

Tackling The Jobs Crisis: What’s To Be Done?

Faced with a jobs crisis, policymakers the world over are digging deep into their policy toolkits to generate more employment. A recent study by the IMF’s Fiscal Affairs Department argues that reforms of tax and expenditure policies offer great promise in helping countries confront the jobs crisis, including in the short term.

By IMFBlog| July 23rd, 2012|Advanced Economies, Economic Crisis, Employment, Europe, Fiscal policy, growth, IMF, International Monetary Fund|

Beyond the Austerity Debate: the Deficit Bias in the post-Bretton Woods Era

The growth versus austerity debate is detracting attention from policy issues that may seem less urgent, but which are nevertheless critical in the medium term. I am referring to what I would call the institutional gaps in fiscal policymaking that still exist in most advanced and emerging economies. These gaps have contributed to a bias in the conduct of fiscal policy in favor of deficits that is behind many of the current problems.

By IMFBlog| May 21st, 2012|Advanced Economies, Economic Crisis, Economic outlook, Economic research, Emerging Markets, Employment, Europe, Finance, Fiscal policy, Globalization, growth, Inequality, International Monetary Fund, Investment, Politics, Public debt|

How to Get the Balance Right: Fiscal Policy At a Time of Crisis

The crisis has harmed growth, increased unemployment, and left a large number of people less protected. We are now seeing some signs of stabilization. Most countries are reducing their deficits and even if debt ratios are still rising, the return back to fiscal health has begun.

By IMFBlog| May 6th, 2012|Advanced Economies, Economic Crisis, Employment, Europe, Financial Crisis, Fiscal policy, Fiscal Stimulus, growth, Inequality, International Monetary Fund, Multilateral Cooperation, Politics, Public debt, recession|

Going Broke? Why Pension Reforms Are Needed in Emerging Economies

Many emerging economies will need to expand their pension systems to reduce poverty among the elderly. Well designed reforms can help countries meet this objective without going broke.

By IMFBlog| April 6th, 2012|Africa, Emerging Markets, Europe, Finance, growth, Inequality, Latin America, Middle East, Public debt|

Disappearing Deficits

In our work at the IMF, we sometimes discover that governments choose to employ accounting devices—or stratagems that make the deficit smaller without actually causing any pain, and without actually improving public finances. In ideal accounting, this would not be possible. In real accounting, it sometimes is.

By IMFBlog| March 28th, 2012|Advanced Economies, Economic research, Emerging Markets, Global Governance, Globalization, IMF, International Monetary Fund, Low-income countries, Public debt|

It’s the Years, Not The Mileage: IMF Analysis of Pension Reforms in Advanced Economies

Indiana Jones, the fictional character of the namesake movies, once said “It’s not the years, it’s the mileage.” The quote comes to mind as many advanced economies wrestle with the best way for pension reform to ensure both retirees and governments don’t go broke. Our view, explained in a new study, is that in fact the years do matter. Our analysis shows that gradually raising retirement ages could help countries contain pension spending increases and boost economic growth.

By IMFBlog| February 1st, 2012|Advanced Economies, Economic Crisis, Employment, Fiscal policy, IMF, International Monetary Fund, Public debt|

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