I am delighted to be back in China this week for a high-level seminar in Nanjing on the international monetary system. Every time I come to this part of the world, I am impressed by the dynamism of the economies and the optimism of the people. The future...

Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to discuss Latin America's regional outlook with government leaders, parliamentarians, and university students in Brazil, Panama, and Uruguay.

The key conclusion that I took away from these meetings is that Latin America faces two principal economic challenges: to...

Latin America has enjoyed tremendous economic dynamism and a rising quality of life in recent years. But, faced with new challenges, the question is: how best to sustain this progress?

As I travel through the region next week--visiting Panama, Uruguay, and Brazil--I'm looking forward to hearing the views of government...

The international monetary system (IMS) is a topic that encompasses a wide range of issues -- reserve currencies, exchange rates, capital flows, and the global financial safety net, to name a few. It is one of the key issues on the G-20's work agenda for 2011, and a...

This past weekend in Washington DC, as the economic leaders of 187 countries gathered for the Annual Meetings of the IMF and World Bank, the mood was tense. The world's finance ministers and central bank governors were concerned because the global recovery is fragile. And uneven. And it...

Oslo was the scene this week of a remarkable event that brought together global leaders from government, business, trade unions, and academia to discuss what many of them said is the biggest issue facing the world today: the jobs crisis.

They spoke of the 210 million people currently...

In Daejeon, Korea earlier this week, a remarkable event took place that enabled the world to hear the voice of Asia and to learn how the region has been able to show such great resilience in the face of the worst global financial crisis since the 1930s. On July 12...

I had the pleasure of addressing the 2nd World Congress of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) in Vancouver a couple of weeks ago, and participating in a panel debate. I also met privately with some key union leaders.

For me, three main points emerged.

First, I was confirmed in...

My final destination in this week's visit to Africa was Zambia, where I sought the views not just of the government but also of the people -- in a town hall with civil society, students, and the media. Zambia has one of the highest economic growth rates in sub-Saharan Africa:...

SOUTH AFRICA -- The sense of African energy and dynamism that I recently described during my visit to Kenya is reinforced strongly here. And it's not just World Cup fever -- though there are plenty of signs of that too.

By some estimates, close to 10 million...

In the wake of the global financial crisis, there is a fresh energy in Sub-Saharan Africa -- and a broad consensus on the road ahead. Above all, there is the strong sense that Africa's destiny will be driven by Africans, not by others.

That at least is my initial feeling...

The saddening and horrific pictures from Haiti after its devastating earthquake brought back vivid memories for me. I lived through an earthquake when I was a young boy in Morocco, and I know how harrowing it is. At that time, there were forty thousand casualties -- nothing close to what...