Session 4: Structural Change in The Global Economy and Its Meaning for Emerging Markets

The U.S. Senate voted to confirm Robert Lighthizer as United States Trade Representative last week, rounding out President Donald Trump’s cabinet and giving momentum to his trade agenda. At his swearing-in ceremony on May 15, Ambassador Lighthizer predicted that President Trump would permanently reverse “the dangerous trajectory of American trade,” and in turn make “U.S. farmers, ranchers and workers richer and the country safer.” This policy shift will begin in earnest in the comin ...

U.S. Africa policy has tended to shift over time and has lacked a clear overarching strategic vision. The Trump administration’s approach in Africa should articulate a limited set of principles that clarifies and solidifies a more sustainable framework that is better suited to address fundamental drivers of Africa’s future. These principles include prioritizing key countries and rationalizing resources, creating an “Investment- First” policy in Africa, and more clearly communicating ...

Despite fraught politics, the global outlook is strengthening. The next twelve months are likely to be characterized by moderate but steady growth across the world. However, the outlook becomes murkier as we move into the second half of 2018 and 2019. Significant upside in world economic growth is possible on account of building momentum against a background of low capacity utilization, but even greater downside is possible on account of inconsistent economic policy in the Unites St ...

Chinese investors are increasingly interested in Africa. Some criticize them for privileging mining investments. A 2017 analysis of these investments shows that investments in mining have not been the only ones privileged by the Chinese operators. Many other sectors such as transport and energy have benefited from Chinese investments, much more so than the mining sector, for example. ...

There is much room for deepening Brazil and Morocco’s bilateral economic relationship, in the fields of trade and investment flows. This is the main conclusion of the assessment of both countries external economic relations and of their bilateral trade and investment flows. This policy brief aims at presenting a roadmap for fostering bilateral economic relations, focusing on the avenues for a bilateral free trade agreement and for bilateral treaties on investment promotion. This app ...

Last week the World Bank released a Staff Note (2017) analyzing the pension reform proposal sent last December by Brazil’s Federal Government to Congress. It concludes that (p.16, our emphasis): “… the proposed pension reform in Brazil is necessary, urgent if Brazil is to meet its spending rule, and socially balanced in that the proposal mostly eliminates subsidies received under the current rules by formal sector workers and civil servants who belong to the top 60 percent of house ...