Member Views

A U.S. Call for Modest IMF Gold Sales to Help Africa

"Modest IMF gold sales to help Sub-Saharan African nations and low-income countries could strongly bolster the IMF’s global role and benefit not only these countries, but also U.S. national interests," writes BWC member Mark Sobel. 

"On the heels of the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit, the United States should lead an international effort to sell modest amounts of IMF gold for LICs."

A Stronger IMF Will Bolster the US Recovery

All indications are that global economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic will be a daunting challenge. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is already stepping up to help emerging markets and developing countries by approving several emergency loans.

A rare, nonpartisan good news story in Washington

One of the government’s most important obligations is to protect our national security. Getting the details right for how to do so often leads to debate and disagreement, as it should. Unfortunately, such discussions can devolve into partisan acrimony.

A proposal for the Fed’s balance sheet

To save financial institutions from the collapse that threatened them after the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers in September 2008, the Federal Reserve purchased government securities and Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS) sufficient to increase the size of its asset holdings from $0.9 trillion to $4.5 trillion by the end of 2014.

A More Robust Macroeconomic Policy Framework Is Needed

The COVID-19-triggered economic shutdown has precipitated the second collapse in economic activity and surge in unemployment in 12 years.

A Global Climate Guarantee Company Could Accelerate Private Funding of Climate Projects

The purpose of this article is to make the case for the establishment of a new financial guarantee company (referred to as Global Climate Guarantee Company or “GCGC”) that would facilitate and scale up private sector debt financing of climate and sustainable infrastructure projects globally.

RATIONALE

A Divided Electorate Spells Trouble for the US Economy

In the wake of the US presidential vote, there are three things that are clear at this stage that spell trouble for the US economy, and well beyond that.

A Call for Institutional Entrepreneurship

Beverly Barrett, PhD is policy program advisor and economics faculty at the University of St. Thomas, Houston. Dr. Barrett is the author of Globalization and Change in Higher Education: The Political Economy of Policy Reform in Europe (Palgrave Macmillan). You may email her at beverly@beverlybarrett.org. This blog is a part of special series on the coronavirus.

A Bigger BRICS? China Pushes to Expand Bloc

BWC member Hung Tran called alternative currency "'unrealistic' in an interview this week and said there was 'no other currency which really enjoys all the attributes and the convenience and the ease of dealing like the dollar or the euro at the moment.'"

25 Years of the Euro

The launch of the European Monetary Union (EMU) in 1999 signifies a turning point in international economics history and to this day serves as one of the most important events of the past century, bringing with it important economic, political, and social consequences for European companies and households.