Healing the Pandemic’s Economic Scars Demands Prompt Action
Challenges facing emerging market workers and students everywhere could turn to long-term damage.
How Domestic Violence is a Threat to Economic Development
Stopping violence against women is not only a moral imperative, new evidence shows that it can help the economy.
Sharing the Gains of Automation: The Role of Fiscal Policy
Careful calibration of spending and tax policies can reduce inequality caused by automation.
Chart of the WeekWhen it Comes to Services vs. Manufacturing, Words Matter
By Reda Cherif and Fuad Hasanov
Efforts to revive national manufacturing sectors get a lot of airtime. After all, the sector propelled many East and South East Asian economies—the so-called “East Asia Miracle”—and was a gateway to the middle class for millions of workers. However, for all the obsession with manufacturing, economists for their part seem to be more preoccupied with services.
To confirm this, we combed through thousands of IMF reports on countries’ economies from 1978 to 2019. Using 113 distinct terms related to growth theory and policy—ranging from “infrastructure” to “liberalization”—we computed the relative weights of each term across countries and years. As shown in our chart of the week, “services” is used more than any other term.
In fact, across all countries and years, “services” comprises about 20 percent of the occurrences of all terms, with tourism in particular getting more attention. “Agriculture” and “agricultural” are the second most frequently used terms, followed by “industry” and “industrial.” By contrast, “manufacturing” comes up only 2 to 5 percent of the time, depending on the income group (5 percent for advanced economies). “Manufacturing” appears even less often than terms such as “institutions,” “privatization,” and […]
Demographics and Destiny
By Gita Bhatt
When I visit my home country, India, I am always struck by how young it looks. From the big cities to the tiny villages, one can see the hopes and aspirations of twenty-somethings, many in search of work. In Japan, demographic trends have been moving in the opposite direction. Homes sit vacant, and villages are vanishing, as people have fewer children. In response, the Japanese are embracing technology to fill the gaps through innovations like robot chefs and automated medical services. […]
Widening Gaps: Regional Inequality within Advanced Economies
By John Bluedorn, Weicheng Lian, Natalija Novta, and Yannick Timmer
عربي, 中文, Español, Français, 日本語, Português, Русский
Differences in economic performance between regions within countries can be large and sometimes even larger than between countries. […]
How to Keep Corporate Power in Check
By Federico Díez and Romain Duval
عربي, 中文, Español, Français, 日本語, Português, Русский
People are becoming concerned that the rising power of big successful companies may be behind some of the recent sluggish economic growth and rising income inequality. […]
Why Investment May Come Under Threat
By Weicheng Lian, Natalija Novta, and Petia Topalova
عربي, 中文, Español, Français, 日本語, Português, Русский
It might be hard to imagine a time when a 512 kilobyte computer cost more than $28,000. That was in 1984. Today, you can buy a much more powerful computer for under $300. […]
Economic Forces, Not Tariffs, Drive Changes in Trade Balances
By Johannes Eugster, Florence Jaumotte, Margaux MacDonald, and Roberto Piazza
عربي, 中文, Español, Français, 日本語, Português, Русский
New IMF research finds that macroeconomic factors, not tariffs, explain most of the changes in trade balances between two countries. […]