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Fiscal policy in Latin America: better after all?

08-Oct-2010

Latin America overcame the 2008-2009 international crisis in apparently robust macroeconomic health. At the onset of the crisis, most countries in the region had positive budget surpluses, reasonably low debt-to-GDP levels and credible monetary policies thanks, in several cases, to inflation targeting regimes. As the crisis progressed, policy makers could boast significant fiscal packages while keeping country risk in check.

'Shifting Wealth’ generates a great deal of interest during presentations of the Perspectives on Global Development 2010 in New York and Washington

23-Sep-2010

The PGD 2010 report continued its tour with a presentation at the UN In New York on 13 September. The audience showed considerable interest and enthusiasm for the report, leading to a long and animated discussion on the topic of Shifting Wealth. PGD 2010 was also presented to a packed audience at the US State Dept in Washington, DC and representatives expressed their interest in next year’s topic of ‘social cohesion’. A background paper to the report was presented at the OAS, followed by a discussion moderated Amb. Ramdin, Deputy Sec. Gen. of the OAS.

Gender Inequality and the MDGs: What are the Missing Dimensions?

15-Sep-2010

As world leaders meet in New York in September 2010 to review progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), new research by the OECD Development Centre finds that looking at women's control over resources, their level of decision-making power in the family and household, and their degree of control over their own physical security can shed light on the bottlenecks that hamper further progress across all the MDG targets.

Call for Papers: Social Cohesion

08-Sep-2010

The Development Centre is putting out a call for papers in advance of its International Conference on Social Cohesion and Development which will take place in Paris on 20-21 January 2011. Contributions from the field of economics or other social sciences are invited and the deadline for submitting abstracts is 15 October 2010. Social Cohesion is the theme of the 2011 edition of the Development Centre’s Perspectives on Global Development.

Working paper on "Renminbi and Poor-Country Growth"

08-Sep-2010

Discussions on how best to exit from global imbalances to create a more balanced world economy have ignored the impact on poor countries of proposals to redress these imbalances. This paper aims at filling that gap. It gauges the degree of renminbi (RMB) undervaluation; presents evidence on RMB undervaluation and China’s GDP growth rate; surveys the role of the real effective exchange rate – both its level and its stability over time – for underpinning growth in developing countries, especially in large dual economies such as China and India.

The African Tax Administrators Forum endorses the AEO 2010 theme

26-Aug-2010

The most important capacity-building institution for African tax administrators, ATAF, advocated the policy recommendations made in the Centre’s study on 'Domestic Resource Mobilization and Aid’. In its first ever newsletter to members, ATAF administrators reprinted the study’s findings, declaring the 2010 African Economic Outlook study "strong in its analysis of how tax policy and administration could be improved".

OECD Asian Business Cycle Indicators (OECD ABCIs)

28-Jun-2010

A tool to provide comparable information on the short-term economic climate and potential macroeconomic risks of Asian economies as closer to real time as possible, the Asian Business Cycle Indicators (ABCIs), was lunched by the OCED Development Centre, Asia and Pacific desk.

Discussion: “From Behind the Scenes to the Forefront: Gender Equality, Social Institutions and the Millennium Development Goals”

24-Jun-2010

How does gender inequality in social institutions, such as norms around violence against women, disparities in political participation, early marriage or lack of access to economic resources inhibit the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals? How can social institutions be transformed in ways that empower women and lead to equitable and sustainable development? OECD Development Centre, ICRW and UNIFEM will be hosting a panel discussion in New York on 1 July.

Millenium Development Goals + 10 Review Conference for Europe and CIS-Status of the Region: What works and what does not?

16-Jun-2010

On 9-10 June 2010 the Black Sea and Central Asia Initiative’s Coordinator, Colm Foy, participated as a panelist in the “Millenium Development Goals (MDG) + 10 Review Conference for Europe and CIS-Status of the Region: What works and what does not?” held in Istanbul, Turkey.

Curtain Closes on the 10th Annual Africa Forum

11-Jun-2010

An unprecedented number of African Ministers and CEOs debated Africa's prospects in this anniversary International Economic Forum on Africa on June 11th. Debate focused on Africa's strategies for regaining pre-crisis growth rates during the morning session. In the afternoon talk turned to fiscal challenges, including the relationship between taxes and aid. Here ministers sat face-to-face with representatives from extractive industries to discuss frankly how Africa can get a better deal on the presence of lucrative industries within their borders.