TIGblogs - G. Moheyuddin's TIGBlog

World Bank Internship Program - Summer 2009

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 12:12:00 EST

The World Bank is now accepting applications for the 2009 Summer Internship Program. Deadline to apply is January 31st, 2009.nbsp;You can also apply to Region-Specific Internships.

Please read the instructions carefully. Questions? Here are some answers to the most FAQs.nbsp;If you have more questions, please contact human resources directly.

Good luck to those who apply.

Today is World AIDS Day

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 11:12:00 EST

This year marks the 20th anniversary of World AIDS day.

A new report from UNAIDS, AIDS OUTLOOK/09, highlights the achievements but also and the pressing challenges in addressing HIV.

Reshaping Economic Geography

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 12:11:00 EST

The World Development Report, the World Bank's flagship publication, looks this year at Economic Geography (a very current issue thank you also to the Nobel Prize).

The full report and more related information available on-line.

Some comments on the report from blogs: ODI Blog, From Poverty to Power

Jobs, Jobs, Jobs

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 04:11:00 EST

The latest issue of Poverty in Focus, the magazine published bynbsp;UNDP's International Poverty Centre, is out. This issue isnbsp;fully devoted to the linkages between employment, economic growth andnbsp;poverty reduction.

quot;What is the role of employment in the nexus of economic growth, poverty reduction and progress towards achievement of the UN Millennium Development Goals? Although employment is not an explicit component of the MDGs, it has a key role in economic and social development.

As labour is the main resource that most poor people are endowed with, labour intensive growth is the most effective way to reduce poverty. Employment is the key source of income, consumption and other material aspects of improved livelihoods. Moreover, it enhances also other dimensions of wellbeing including skills, physical abilities and self-respect.quot;

Access the full issue on-line: Jobs, Jobs, Jobs, The Policy Challenge

Fridays Academy: Gender and Monetary Policy

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 12:11:00 EST

nbsp;As usual on Fridays, from Raj Nallari and Breda Griffith's lecture notes.

nbsp;

Gender and Monetary Policy: Introduction

The monetary system in any country comprises of banks and other financial institutions, such as credit unions, micro-credit schemes, and housing societies.nbsp; In more developed countries, stock markets, investment banks, insurance companies and other institutions also take deposits and provide financial services.nbsp; Monetary policy instruments are mainly money supply and interest rates, while regulations related to facilitating transactions of payments, assets, debts and credit.

nbsp;

The broad objective of monetary policy conducted by Central Bank of a country is to maintain low inflation (that will also ensure low real interest rates) and stable and realistic exchange rates by managing money supply and setting interest rates.nbsp; Low inflation, low real interest rates, and realistic exchange rates benefit the poor, while high inflation hampers growth, and the poor are unable to protect their consumption levels.nbsp; However, moderate inflation in the range of about 20-30% is observed not to have an adverse effect on GDP growth. But, inflation erodes the real incomes and as such, is harmful to the poor, who already have lower incomes. Overvalued exchange rates harm the living standards of the rural poor who are predominantly women who depend upon agricultural exports.

International Finance and Growth in Developing Countries

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 11:11:00 EST

nbsp;

The Commission on Growth and Development has publishednbsp;the paper International Finance and Growth in Developing Countries: What Have We Learned?, by Maurice Obstfeld.

quot;Despite an abundance of cross‐section, panel, and event studies, there is strikingly little convincing documentation of direct positive impacts of financial opening on the economic welfare levels or growth rates of developing countries. The econometric difficulties are similar to those that bedevil the literature on trade openness and growth, though if anything, they are more severe in the context of international finance. There is also little systematic evidence that financial opening raises welfare indirectly by promoting collateral reforms of economic institutions or policies. At the same time, opening the financial account does appear to raise the frequency and severity of economic crises. Nonetheless, developing countries continue to move in the direction of further financial openness. A plausible explanation is that financial development is a concomitant of successful economic growth, and a growing financial sector in an economy open to trade cannot long be insulated from cross‐border financial flows. This survey discusses the policy framework in which financial globalization is most likely to prove beneficial for developing countries. The reforms developing countries need to carry out to make their economies safe for international asset trade are the same reforms they need to carry out to curtail the power of entrenched economic interests and liberate the economyrsquo;s productive potential.quot;

read more

Internet course: Gender, Economic Development and Poverty Reduction

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 12:11:00 EST

Gender, Economic Development and Poverty Reduction E-course

December 1, 2008 - January 5, 2009

The goal of this course is to introduce participants to the linkages between gender equality, growth and poverty reduction and to enhance their ability to participate in the design and implementation of poverty reduction strategies. The course will explore the concepts of gender inequality, the relationship between gender inequality and poverty; discuss the importance of gender issues in economic development, and how gender equality relates to attaining the Millennium Development Goals. After the introductory module the course will study gender inequality in access to education, health, labor markets, employment opportunities, and productive resources, and how it affects growth. The course will also revise tools available to identify gender issues in poverty analysis, and policies managing foreign direct investment and promoting economic growth and gender equality.

The course is fee based. There will be a $100 fee to participate in this course.

WBI is announcing an essay contest for this course. The winner will be sponsored to travel to Washington D.C. to participate in the course on Gender and Economic Empowerment tentatively organized in June 2009 by the World Bank.

Apply on-line. Deadline to apply is November 28th.

Full announcement and contact information.

Ask Joseph Stiglitz

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 05:11:00 EST

Daniel Altman is organizing another Qamp;A session with Joseph Stiglitz in his blog Managing Globalization. Joseph Stiglitz willnbsp;discuss the effects of the current financial crisis and the challenges that await the global economy.

This session promises to be interesting. You can sendnbsp;him your questionsnbsp;until this Friday.

New Thinking on Poverty

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 06:11:00 EST

Paul Shaffer, from the University of Toronto, writes in the Real-World Economics Review about thenbsp;new thinking on poverty.

quot;Three main changes in thinking about poverty have gained increasing currency over the past decade. First, the concept of poverty has been broadened. This is reflected in the move from a physiological model of deprivation to a social one, and subsequently, in the increasing attention afforded issues of vulnerability, inequality and human rights. Second, the causal structure has been broadened to include a range of causal variables which previously received little attention. These have been phrased as 'forms of capital' and include social, political, cultural, coercive and environmental capital. Third, the causal structure has been deepened to focus on flows of individuals into and out of poverty, rather than on changes in the stock of poverty, and on strategies of social protection vs. poverty reduction. The paper reviews these changes as well as their implications for globalisation and policy.quot;

nbsp;

(via From Poverty to Power)

Krugman on Economic Geography

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 04:11:00 EST

Dramatic decreases in costs of transport, communication and information technology should have reduced spatial disparities in economic activities and moved us to a lsquo;global village.rsquo;nbsp; Yet, we find that in both industrial and developing countries, economic activities are concentrated in a few centers and there are regional disparities.nbsp; For example, about 15 percent of world population live in temperate zones but produce 50 percent of world GDP.nbsp; In United States, counties that take up 2 percent of the land area produce more than half of U.S. GDP.nbsp; Similarly, poverty is concentrated in a few pockets in many countries.nbsp; It was Krugman (1991) who deduced that agglomeration economies accrue at plant level and hence firms are located in a single area nearer to consumer demand in urban areas with large populations and minimal transport costs.nbsp; In other words, location of economic activity matters and a tiny (initial) difference may soon lead to a concentration of economic activity around a center and ultimately to a formation of industry cluster in the same space.nbsp;nbsp; Agglomeration economies accrue at plant level, industry level or city and regional level.

nbsp;

Are the Cheetahs Tracking the Tigers?

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 04:11:00 EST

A new one pager by Degol Hailu from UNDP's International Poverty Centre compares the high-growth periods for the African economies with those for the Asian Tigers.

nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;

quot;The high-growth performances are encouraging, but there is little sign of expansion in manufacturing activities among the so-called Cheetahs. The dependence on primary commodities and the extractive industry is worrying, particularly in economies that are heavily dependent on imports and where domestic manufacturing may possibly provide substitutesquot;

nbsp;Related:

Anbsp;book by World Bank Economic Advisor Harry Broadmannbsp;looks at the Trade and Investment relationshipsnbsp;between Sub-Saharan Africa and China and India, and The Economist, in a recent article, is also of the opinion thatnbsp;there is hope for Africa.

FREE E - BOOKS

Sat, 01 Nov 2008 06:45:00 EDT

JUST CLICK AT THIS LINK

Ebooks!

Crisis talk

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 11:10:00 EDT

The newest addition to the family of World Bank Group blogs, Crisis Talk, aims to provide the latest information on the unfolding financial crisis, both on specific countries and sectors, as well as on the global crisis response. The blog will also feature opinions on what solutions may be possible, what shape the financial sector may take in the future, and how the crisis affects the real economy.

Welcome to the blogosphere!

Memo to the next president

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 02:10:00 EDT

quot;Aspiring U.S. politicians dream of being FDR, but rarely do the times and the person converge. The next president will have the chance to be a 21st-century FDR.quot;

That's World Bank Group'snbsp;president, Robert B. Zoellick, in an Op-Ed published yesterday in the Washington Post: A World in Crisis Means A Chance for Greatness.

Today is the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 02:10:00 EDT

Today is the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.

Duncan Green, Head of Research for Oxfam GB, blogged a couple of days ago (on blog action day, which had poverty as a theme) about a success story,nbsp;a country really making poverty history.

Making agriculture a development priority

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 10:10:00 EDT

nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;

The October issue of Development Outreach, the World Bank Institute's magazine, is devoted to agriculture. Fully available on-line.

nbsp;Check also the World Bank's Agriculture and Rural Development site, and the one about the Food Crisis.

nbsp;

The Washington Consensus revisited

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 11:10:00 EDT

John Williamson, who coined the termnbsp;Washington Consensus, revisits itnbsp;at the Growthnbsp;Blog.

Dani Rodrik comments in his blog.

Paul Krugman wins Nobel Prize in Economics

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 09:10:00 EDT

quot;For his analysis of trade patterns and location of economic activityquot;.

Paul Krugman is a professor at Princeton University and a columnist for the New York Times, where he also writes a blog.

Congratulations!

DFID is blogging

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 09:10:00 EDT

The UK's Department for International Development (DFID) has started a new blog. A nice addition to the blogosphere. Welcome!

nbsp;

(Via Owen)

"We cannot let a financial crisis become a human crisis"

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 05:10:00 EDT

World Bank Group President, Robert Zoellick, today at a press briefing openingnbsp;thenbsp;IMF-WB Annual Meetings taking place in Washington this week-end.

Watch the webcast.

Read the transcript.

Internet course: Advanced Poverty Analysis

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 12:10:00 EDT

Advanced Poverty Analysis: Poverty Dynamics (November 24 - December 15, 2008)

This ten-session on-line course on poverty analysis, delivered by the World Bank Institute over a period of three weeks,nbsp;will emphasize the measurement and interpretation of poverty dynamics.

The course will be structured as follows:

nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Week 1:nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Review of the basics of poverty analysis.

nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Week 1- 2:nbsp;nbsp; The measurement and interpretation of poverty dynamics.

nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Week 3:nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; The quantification and analysis of vulnerability to poverty.

Full description of the course.

Apply on-line. Closing date for accepting nominations is October 31st, 2008.

Fridays Academy: Gender Budgeting

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 09:10:00 EDT

This week the quot;Fridays Academyquot; arrives on a Saturday. Starting todaynbsp;andnbsp;during a few weeks we will be looking at Gender Budgeting. As usual, from Raj Nallari and Breda Griffith's lecture notes.

nbsp;

Introduction

Targeting government budgeting to address gender equality has a relatively recent history and forms part of the general consensus that advocates the allocation of government funds to the direct and/or indirect support of policy areas such as environment and poverty for example.nbsp; The new emphasis on government budgeting for gender equality is more correctly defined as lsquo;Gender Mainstreamingrsquo;.nbsp;

nbsp;

New blog on Growth issues

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 10:10:00 EDT

Our colleagues from the the Commission on Growth and Developmentnbsp; have recently launched a blog, to continue the discussion started with the Growth Report.

Welcome to the blogosphere!

Global Poverty Reassessed

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 02:09:00 EDT

Two one pagers from UNDP's International Poverty Centre continue the discussion on the World Bank's Updated Poverty Estimates.

Sanjay Reddy thinks the World Bank is Digging Deeper into a Hole; Martin Ravaillon, Director of the Development Research Group at the World Bank,nbsp; replies.

Our colleagues from the PSD Blog already mentioned some previous reactions to the new poverty estimates.

Internships at the World Bank

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 11:09:00 EDT

We regularly receive queries about the possibility of doing an internship at the World Bank. For those interested, the application for the winter Internship program is now open.

Applications must be done on-line, following the instructions in the link above. Deadline to apply is October 31st.