Eye on the IFIs

Opinion: Greece – A Sad Story of the European Establishment

By Roberto Savio
Only 50 years of Cold War (and the fact that German Chancellor Angela Merkel grew up in East Germany) can possibly explain the strange political power of the United States over Europe.

Climate Fund Rolls Out Amid Hopes It Stays “Green”

By Kitty Stapp
After a difficult infancy, the Green Climate Fund is finally getting some legs. The big question now is what direction it will toddle off in.

Jamaican Gov’t Sees IMF Successes but No Benefits for the Poor

By Zadie Neufville
For Jamaicans like Roxan Brown, the Caribbean nation's International Monetary Fund (IMF) successes don’t mean a thing. Seven consecutive tests have been passed but still, the mother of two can’t find work and relies instead on the kindness of friends and family.

Opinion: The Bumpy Road to an Asian Century

By Shyam Saran
It has been apparent for some time that we are in the midst of a historic shift of the centre of gravity of the global economy from the trans-Atlantic to what is now becoming known as the Indo-Pacific.  

Opinion: Finance Like a Cancer Grows

By Roberto Savio
It is astonishing that every week we see action being taken in various part of the world against the financial sector, without any noticeable reaction of public opinion.

Opinion: Lack of Trade Finance a Barrier for Developing Countries

By Roberto Azevêdo
Up to 80 percent of global trade is supported by some form of financing or credit insurance. Yet in many countries there is a lack of capacity in the financial sector to support trade, and also a lack of access to the international financial system. Therefore the ability of these countries to use simple instruments such as letters of credit is limited.

Opinion: Pillar of Neoliberal Thinking is Vacillating

By Roberto Savio
This month’s World Economic Outlook released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) only confirms that consequences of the collapse of the financial system, which started six years ago, are serious. And they are accentuated by the aging of the population, not only in Europe but also in Asia, the slowing of productivity and weak private investment.

Opinion: A Long History of Predatory Practices Against Developing Countries

By Kinda Mohamadieh
The world’s attention turned to the practices of vulture funds after the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed a lower court opinion in the NML Capital vs Argentina case, which forbids the country from making payments on its restructured debt.

Opinion: Crisis Resolution and International Debt Workout Mechanisms

By Yilmaz Akyüz
Debt restructuring is a component of crisis management and resolution, and needs to be treated in the context of the current economic conjuncture and vulnerabilities.

Development and Taxes, a Vital Piece of the Post-2015 Puzzle

By Lyndal Rowlands
Public funds are vitally important to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), making corporate tax avoidance trends a pressing issue for post-2015 Financing for Development discussions.

Opinion: Greece and the Germanisation of Europe

By Guillermo Medina
At last, on Tuesday Feb. 24, the Eurogroup (of eurozone finance ministers) approved the Greek government’s commitment to a programme of reforms in return for extending the country’s bailout deal.

OPINION: The Corporate Takeover of Ukrainian Agriculture

By Frederic Mousseau
At the same time as the United States, Canada and the European Union announced a set of new sanctions against Russia in mid-December last year, Ukraine received 350 million dollars in U.S. military aid, coming on top of a one billion dollar aid package approved by the U.S. Congress in March 2014. 

OPINION: Greece Gives EU the Chance to Rediscover Its Social Responsibility

By Marianna Fotaki
The European Union should not be afraid of the leftist opposition party Syriza winning the Greek election, but see it as a chance to rediscover its founding principle - the social dimension that created it and without which it cannot survive.

OPINION: Banks, Inequality and Citizens

By Roberto Savio
Every day we receive striking data on major issues which should create tumult and action, but life goes on as if those data had nothing to do with people’s lives.

Haitians Worry World Bank-Assisted Mining Law Could Result in “Looting”

By Carey L. Biron
With Haiti’s Parliament having dissolved on Tuesday, civil society groups are worried that the Haitian president may move to unilaterally put in place a contentious revision to the country’s decades-old mining law.

OPINION: No Nation Wants to Be Labeled “Least Developed”

By Ahmed Sareer
Since 1971, Maldives is one of only three countries that have graduated from the ranks of the world’s “least developed countries” (LDCs) – the other two being Botswana and Cape Verde.

The Rise and Fall of the World’s Poorest Nations

By Thalif Deen
The world's 48 Least Developed Countries (LDCs) - a special category of developing nations created by the General Assembly in 1971 but refused recognition by the World Bank - have long been described as "poorest of the poor" in need of special international assistance for their economic survival.

Changes to World Bank Safeguards Risk “Race to the Bottom”, U.N. Experts Warn

By Carey L. Biron
An unprecedented number of United Nations special rapporteurs and independent experts are raising pointed concerns over the World Bank’s ongoing review of its pioneering environmental and social safeguards, particularly around the role that human rights will play in these revamped policies.

World Bank Calls for Development Policy “Redesign” around Human Behaviour

By Carey L. Biron
The World Bank has taken an unusual but highly visible step away from traditional economics, encouraging policymakers and development implementers to place far more emphasis on research into local human behaviour when drawing up plans and projects.

OPINION: The Decline of Social Europe is Part of a World Trend

By Roberto Savio
After the Italian sea search-and-rescue operation Mare Nostrum at a cost of nine million euros a month, through which the Italian Navy has rescued nearly 100,000 migrants – although perhaps up to 3,000 have died – from the Mediterranean since October 2013, Europe is now presenting its new face in the Mediterranean.

G20 Seeks to Streamline Private Investment in Infrastructure

By Carey L. Biron
Industrialised countries have agreed to collaborate on a new programme aimed at funnelling significant private-sector investment into global infrastructure projects, particularly in developing countries.
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