Commodity wealth demands a fiscal balancing act
Commodity booms are easy to celebrate but hard to manage. For resource-rich economies, commodity windfalls—if managed well—can finance investment, strengthen public finances and lift growth
Industrial policy in complementary markets: Lessons from India’s 4G rollout
Governments increasingly use protection and targeted subsidies to promote domestic firms. These policies are usually evaluated in the market they target. This column uses India’s
How regulatory risk and expropriation threats are affecting Berlin’s housing market
Housing shortages and rising rents have become a source of political pressure in many countries, prompting calls for stronger intervention in rental markets. This column
A comparison of labour force participation trends in the euro area and the US
The labour force participation rate in the euro area has risen in recent years while it has declined in the US, significantly narrowing the gap
Macrofinance meets AI: Evaluating alignment between LLMs and economists
Many public institutions are now experimenting with AI tools to support surveillance, supervision, and policy analysis, raising questions about which analytical tasks can be delegated
How data and evidence can make anticorruption reforms more inclusive
In Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), one in five people report experiencing or knowing of sextortion — the exchange of sex, rather than money,
Quantifying the China discourse
Policy narratives in the US on China have undergone a dramatic transformation in recent years. This column draws on various kinds of public records and
AI feedback loops and the conditions for explosive growth
If frontier AI models can be used to develop their next models, this may lead to an ‘intelligence explosion’ and give a large boost to
Tracking the changing role of foreign direct investment and remittances—check the latest WDI data
For decades, foreign direct investment (FDI) was seen as the primary engine of development finance. But that’s changing, as FDI flows fall off and remittances
How Amazonian rangers are building better jobs on the frontline of conservation
Every year on July 31, World Ranger Day offers us a moment to celebrate the people standing on the frontlines of nature. This year’s theme,
