Who benefits from free trade and who doesn’t? The realities don’t always match people’s perceptions. In this podcast, economist and free trade expert Douglas Irwin addresses some of the controversies. Irwin participated in a seminar entitled Making Trade an Engine of Growth for All at this year’s IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings.

Contributors:

Douglas Irwin, John Sloan Dickey Third Century Professor in Social Sciences in the Department of Economics at Dartmouth College

Ravi Kanbur says statistics are fundamentally political in nature and in import. Kanbur is Professor of Economics at Cornell University and gave the keynote speech at the Fourth IMF Statistical forum on Statistics for Inclusive Growth, held in November 2016. In this podcast, Kanbur says data doesn’t always reflect reality when it comes to poverty and inequality.

Contributors:

Ravi Kanbur: T. H. Lee Professor of World Affairs and Professor of Economics at Cornell University.

Globalization is a recent term, but the internationalization of markets, people, ideas, and cultures is nothing new. In this podcast, IMF historian Harold James, talks about how the past might help guide us into the future. James is Professor of History and International Affairs at Princeton University, and author of New Concept Old Reality published in the December 2016 edition of Finance and Development magazine.

Contributors:

Harold James, Professor of History and International Affairs at Princeton University and IMF Historian

Esther Duflo, Professor of Development Economics at MIT, co-founded The Poverty Lab to find innovative approaches to poverty alleviation. In this podcast, Duflo says all economic and social dimensions of poverty must be considered in order to effectively address the problem. Duflo presented the 2016 Richard Goode lecture at the IMF earlier this month.

Contributors:

Esther Duflo: Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The IMF’s latest Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa dedicates an entire chapter on what a drought, an earthquake or a pandemic can do to a country’s economy. In this podcast, lead authors Marshall Mills and Vimal Thakoor say natural disasters have a much bigger impact in sub-Saharan Africa than any other region.

Contributors:

Marshall Mills: Economist and Mission Chief for Madagascar, IMF African Department.

Vimal Thakoor: Economist, IMF African Department.

While the benefits of expanding women’s participation in the economy are clear, women around the globe continue to face barriers. In this podcast, Action Aid’s Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda says women bear a disproportionate responsibility for unpaid care work, and ill-thought-out policies often add to that burden. Gumbonzvanda joined a panel on Making Macroeconomics Work for Women at the IMF World-Bank Annual Meetings.   

Contributors:

Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda, International Board Chair for Action Aid

In this podcast, IMF Managing Director, Christine Lagarde, and best-selling author Michael Lewis (The Big Short), reflect on lessons learned from the financial crisis and other issues facing the world economy. The discussion took place before a live audience during the IMF World-Bank Annual meetings last month.

Contributors:

Christine Lagarde: IMF Managing Director.

Michael Lewis: Author, columnist and financial journalist.

In this podcast, inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil talks about how artificial intelligence is helping overcome human limitations and creating better-paying jobs. Kurzweil participated in a panel discussion entitled Technology, Innovation, and Inclusive Growth, during the 2016 IMF World-Bank Annual Meetings.

Contributors:

Ray Kurzweil: Inventor, futurist, and author.

The IMF's latest regional economic outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa shows growth at its lowest level in more than 20 years. But in this podcast, the African Department’s new Director, Abebe Aemro Selassie, says it’s a mixed story of struggling oil-exporters and strong performers.

 Contributors: Abebe Aemro Selassie, Director of the IMF’s African Department

Le dernier rapport du FMI sur les Perspectives économiques régionales prévoit que le taux de croissance économique de l’Afrique subsaharienne devrait descendre à son plus bas niveau depuis plus de deux décennies. Mais Céline Allard, chef de la division des études régionales au Département Afrique, dit que plusieurs pays continuent de croitre de manière très robuste

Contributeurs: Céline Allard, chef de la division des études régionales au Département Afrique du FMI