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Managing Divergent Recoveries
It is one year into the COVID-19 pandemic and the global community still confronts extreme social and economic strain as the human toll rises and millions remain unemployed. Yet, even with high uncertainty…
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Monetary Policy at a Crossroad: Policymakers Need to Break Promise of Easy Money to Avoid Boom-Bust
The Federal Reserve's new policy approach is that policymakers want to see "actual progress, not forecast progress" before deciding to change its policy stance. Substantial actual progress is occurring in the economy, some…
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How Rising Interest Rates Could Affect Emerging Markets
Emerging and developing economies are viewing rising interest rates with trepidation. Most of them are facing a slower economic recovery than advanced economies because of longer waits for vaccines and limited space for…
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What to do When Low-for-Long Interest Rates are Lower and for Longer
Central banks have played a pivotal role in easing financial conditions in response to the COVID-19 shock, and helped avert a catastrophic downturn. However, their work is far from done. Yet more monetary…
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A Long, Uneven and Uncertain Ascent
This crisis is far from over. Employment remains well below pre-pandemic levels and the labor market has become more polarized with low-income workers, youth, and women being harder hit. The poor are getting…
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Aging Economies may Benefit Less from Fiscal Stimulus
A new IMF research finds that age matters when considering fiscal stimulus. Specifically, the study found that fiscal policy isn’t as effective in boosting growth in economies with older populations, compared to economies…