IMF Podcasts

Entretien avec OLIVIER BLANCHARD, économiste en chef du FMI, où il parle des dernières révisions à la baisse de la Perspective Économique Mondiale. La mise à jour montre la croissance mondiale pour 2015-16 à 3,5 et 3,7 pour cent.

The burning of fossil fuels comes with many costs. Millions of people die each year from the pollution it emits. This follow up to an earlier interview with an IMF economist explores the health risks posed by air pollution and some proposed solutions.

Strong economic growth helps keep people employed and healthy, but there's a growing sense in many countries that only the wealthiest are reaping the benefits. Nobel laureate Michael Spence says inclusive growth is key to economic stability.

More than half of all countries in the world have laws that restrict women from joining the workforce. The IMF says the global economy would benefit by Boosting Women's Participation in the Labor Force, and hosted a seminar on the topic last fall during the Fund's annual meetings. Sarah Iqbal participated in that forum and talks in this podcast about the hurdles women face when starting a business. Read as well the IMF Survey story on Unleashing the Economic Power of Women [http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/survey/so/2014/car091514b.htm]

Antibiotics have transformed modern medicine, but their overuse has resulted in more drug–resistant strains of bacteria. As resistance increases, people in poorer countries often can't afford expensive second-line drugs. Ramanan Laxminarayan, Princeton University and director of the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy.

Economist Justin Wolfers explains why the continued challenge of tackling income inequality should be a global priority for countries around the world and across the economic spectrum.

South Africa can celebrate significant progress in its first 20 years of democracy, but faces the challenge of reviving a weak economy. Addressing structural constraints such as electricity shortages are key to increasing growth.

Despite his reputation as the father of greedy capitalism, Adam Smith did a great deal of thinking about the human condition and how to be a better, more generous person. One economist believes that Smith could change your life. Listen to Russ Roberts on economics as entertainment:

Economic ideas can be a hard pill to swallow for non-academics, and yet virtually everyone can benefit from understanding them. Economist Russ Roberts discusses how he uses stories, rap music and the internet to help the medicine go down.

Data has gained prominence as a vital building block for making sound policy. IMF Director of Statistics, Louis Marc Ducharme talks about how the IMF is helping make data more widely available to policy makers.