Debt relief and the scaling up of aid to low-income countries should allow for increased fiscal space for expenditure programs to spur long-term growth and reduce poverty. But as discussed in Peter Heller’s article “Pity the Finance Minister†(World Economics, Vol. 6, No. 4),...

Global climate change has moved high on the agenda of key policy makers in many industrial countries. As a “global public good,†a coordinated global response in terms of efforts at mitigation will be critically necessary. Equally, many countries will face serious economic harm in the...

Have government debt levels reached dangerous levels? Certainly, for some countries, the data would suggest so. However, this paper will argue that for many governments, the amount of explicit debt on their balance sheets seriously understates the magnitude of their future fiscal obligations....

This paper highlights the economic challenges that would be associated with a successful effort by industrial countries to meet the goal of devoting 0.7 percent of their GNP to official development assistance (ODA) to help poor countries. To help achieve the Millennium Development Goals,...

Substantial scaling up of aid flows will require development partners to address many issues, including the impact of higher aid flows on the competitiveness of aid recipients, the management of fiscal and monetary policy, the delivery of public services, behavioral incentives, and the rate of...