Pension reform is high on the policy agenda of many advanced and emerging market economies. In advanced economies the challenge is generally to contain future increases in public pension spending as the population ages. In emerging market economies, the challenges are often different. Where pension coverage is extensive, the issues are similar to those in advanced economies. Where pension coverage is low, the key challenge will be to expand coverage in a fiscally sustainable manner. This volu...

A number of countries have reversed pension reforms by redirecting contributions from private sector, defined contribution schemes back to public sector, pay as you go schemes. This has been motivated by the desire to improve headline fiscal indicators, and raises important issues regarding how pension reforms and reversals should be incorporated into the fiscal accounts and assessments of fiscal policy. The SDN addresses these issues and proposes how pension reforms can best be incorporat...

Since attaining independence in 1965 Singapore has experienced exceptionally rapid growth, low inflation, and a healthy balance of payments. This paper reviews Singapore's economic development from a long-term perspective and examines some of the factors that have contributed to the sustained rapid growth

In June 2008, Justin Yifu Lin was appointed Chief Economist of the World Bank, right before the eruption of the worst global financial and economic crisis since the Great Depression. Drawing on experience from his privileged position, Lin offers unique reflections on the cause of the crisis, why it was so serious and widespread, and its likely evolution. Arguing that conventional theories provide inadequate solutions, he proposes new initiatives for achieving global stability and avoiding ...

Previously published as The Trillion Dollar MeltdownNow fully updated with the latest financial developments, this is the bestselling book that briefly and brilliantly explains how we got into the economic mess that is the Credit Crunch. With the housing markets unravelling daily and distress signals flying throughout the rest of the economy, there is little doubt that we are facing a fierce recession. In crisp, gripping prose, Charles R. Morris shows how ...

Path-breaking research on one of the most important macroeconomic policy challenges in the post-crisis world, presented in accessible languageWritten and researched by a team of experts from the International Monetary Fund, other policy-making institutions, and academia, this timely book looks at fiscal adjustment plans in advanced economies, comparing the planned or projected reductions in debts and deficits to the actual outcomes, and explaining why objectives we...

The United States has a problem – a big problem. Due to costs associated with the massive bailout of financial institutions deemed "too big to fail," on-going armed conflicts, and a move towards socialism, another even bigger bubble is about to burst – the debt bubble. The Great Super Cycle: Profit from the Coming Inflation Tidal Wave and Dollar Devaluation is an intriguing look at the relationship between Washington and Wall Street; the history of political shifts in power and ho...

Acclaimed investment experts Peter Treadway and Michael Wong explain how to protect your investments—and even profit—from the coming sovereign default crisesA major sovereign default crisis is looming for the so-called developed economies of the world. The result will be a major redistribution of economic wealth and an overhaul of the international financial system on an epic scale. Investing in the Age of Sovereign Defaults: How to Preserve your Wealth in the ...

"America's debt is a powder keg about to blow, and the fuse was lit by the rush of bailouts and stimulus spending."Is your money inflation-proof? It had better be. On the heels of the most recent economic crisis, America is headed toward another: high inflation and dollar devaluation.Charles Goyette reveals the governmental errors that led to the current economic crisis and the bumpy road ahead. The signs are clear: Federal debt is compounding while growth ...

Countries with large oil resources can benefit substantially from them. However, despite their huge natural resources, many oil producers have had disappointing growth, widespread poverty, and continuing vulnerability to oil price and other external shocks. Fiscal policy can play a central role indetermining the extent to which a country benefits from its oil wealth. This book brings together studies that provide analysis and findings on fiscal policy issues in oil-producing countries from a ...

Charles Wheelan’s wonderfully whimsical, best-selling Naked series tackles the weird, surprisingly colorful world of money and banking.Consider the $20 bill.It has no more value, as a simple slip of paper, than Monopoly money. Yet even children recognize that tearing one into small pieces is an act of inconceivable stupidity. What makes a $20 bill actually worth twenty dollars? In the third volume of his best-selling Naked series, Charles ...

This book provides a comprehensive review of recent economic developments in South Africa and the structural and policy challenges facing the authorities. Individual papers examine a range of topics such as unemployment and the labor market, recent trends in the private saving rate, the role of foreign direct investment in the development of South Africa’s economy, the human and economic repercussions of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the role of fiscal policy in economic stabilization, inflation dev...