IMF Podcasts

While the World Economic Outlook shows output in advanced economies set to exceed pre-pandemic levels next year, prospects for low-income countries and emerging markets have darkened considerably due to vaccine shortages and limited support. Overall, the outlook's global growth projection for 2021 has been revised down marginally to 5.9 percent and is unchanged for 2022 at 4.9 percent. The downgrade also reflects continuing supply disruptions and the impact on advanced economies. IMF Chief Economist, Gita Gopinath heads the WEO. In this podcast, she says universal vaccine access remains key for an equitable global recovery.  Transcript Transcript: https://bit.ly/3BBV2zZ Read the blog at: blogs.imf.org

The latest Global Financial Stability Report takes a close look at how recent supply chain disruptions, wage pressures and inflation might compromise the stability of the global financial system. Fabio Natalucci is Deputy Director of the Monetary and Capital Markets Department and heads the GFSR. In this podcast, he says while risks have been contained so far, vulnerabilities remain in a number of sectors including the housing market, where house prices have unexpectedly surged during the pandemic. Transcript Read the blog at blogs.imf.org Read the report at imf.org/GFSR

The crypto ecosystem is growing fast because there are a number of potential benefits to adopting crypto assets, like making payments and financial services cheaper, faster and accessible to more people. But the rapid growth and increasing adoption of crypto assets are posing new challenges to financial stability. Analysis in the latest Global Financial Stability Report takes a deep dive into the world of crypto and calls for a global push to regulate crypto assets. IMF Financial Counsellor, Tobias Adrian, headed the research and in this podcast, he says a regulatory approach with common standards across countries will make crypto assets safer and protect investors. Transcript: https://bit.ly/3oIisjG Read the blog at blogs.imf.org

Inflation has not been much of a concern since the 70s when exogenous oil shocks were widely seen to have caused the phenomenon known as stagflation. But given the uncertain nature of the pandemic recovery, inflation is now on the rise and once again on everyone's mind. Analysis in the latest World Economic Outlook explores today's inflation landscape and finds we're in uncharted territory. Prachi Mishra is an Advisor in the IMF Research Department and coauthor of the study. In this podcast, she says while inflation expectations have stayed relatively anchored so far, there is still much to be concerned about. Transcript: https://bit.ly/3lgu7UV Read the blog at: blogs.imf.org

Most economists would agree a carbon tax is a powerful tool in fighting climate change, but carbon pricing alone is not enough. As green technologies evolve and prices fall, the fight against climate change will need a more nuanced plan of attack where people can actually afford to do the right thing. In this podcast, journalist Rhoda Metcalfe talks to Harvard Professor of Political Economy James Stock about how he sees the decarbonization process playing out sector-by-sector, which is the subject of his article titled Driving Deep Decarbonization in the September edition of Finance and Development. Transcript: https://bit.ly/3m8QV7Z Read the F&D article at IMF.org/fandd

This is the first in a series of IMF podcasts that will showcase extraordinary work by extraordinary women in economics. In this episode, Dr. Lisa Cook, speaks with journalist Rhoda Metcalfe about her work using data on lynching and racial violence in the US to study the impact of violence on innovation and economic growth. Cook has made her mark not only as a black woman economist in a field dominated by white men but for her ground-breaking research on how racism, sexism and violence prevent economies from achieving their potential.   Transcript: https://bit.ly/3zsucIG Read her Profile in F&D at IMF.org/fandd

Nature is often missing in economic models, but in a study commissioned by the UK government, Partha Dasgupta examines the economic benefits of biodiversity and the costs of losing it. Dasgupta is Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Cambridge, and his 600-page study titled the Economics of Biodiversity: The Dasgupta Review sets out a framework for including Nature in our economic thinking and provides a guide for change through three broad, interconnected transitions. Professor Dasgupta published an article about his findings in the September edition of Finance and Development. In this podcast, he says humans are embedded in nature and cannot escape the biosphere through ingenuity.  Transcript: https://bit.ly/3A56Eem Read the F&D article at IMF.org/fandd

There's been a shift in the economic understanding of climate change of late. Climate action, once believed a trade-off to economic growth, is now seen by many economists as an opportunity to drive innovation and increase efficiency. After almost a decade at the World Resources Institute, Andrew Steer is now President and CEO of the Bezos Earth Fund, which has committed $10 billion toward supporting new technologies that help reduce our impact on nature. Rhoda Metcalfe sat down with Dr. Steer to talk about his recent article in Finance and Development magazine. In this podcast, he says philanthropy has a big role to play in addressing climate change. Transcript:  https://bit.ly/3tbRy43 Read the F&D article at IMF.org/fandd

When it comes to cooperation, humans and chimpanzees still have much in common. Perhaps that's not surprising given humans share over 98 percent of our DNA with chimps. But in a recent article in Finance and Development, economist Ruchir Agarwal argues the 2 percent genetic difference propels humanity’s success, but also its potential for disaster. In this podcast, Agarwal asks whether humans have evolved enough to escape “chimpanzee politics” and confront the greatest risk our species is facing—climate change.   Transcript: https://bit.ly/3Bk80C0 Read the Article at IMF.org/fandd

As climate change looms ever larger, most economists agree that a carbon tax would go a long way toward reducing emissions. But carbon taxes and related policies often face deep political constraints, and many are looking at sustainable investing as a way forward. Economist Divya Kirti is coauthor along with Dalya Elmalt and Deniz Igan of a working paper titled Limits to Private Climate Mitigation. In this podcast, Kirti talks about how such market forces could help make meaningful progress in addressing climate change.   Transcript: https://bit.ly/3mDPYXj