Otaviano Canuto

Imagine a low-income country in the developing world suddenly discovering a large endowment of natural resources within its borders. Perhaps a large oil reserve is found just offshore, or a deposit of valuable natural minerals is uncovered just below the earth's surface. Surely, such a discovery would be a blessing,...

The volatility in commodity prices continues. Sure, they have come down in the last few days on Eurozone crisis fears but, all in all, they remain volatile, and in the case of food, very high. One of the reasons for this is that world commodity markets -- particularly those for...

Trade logistics, or the capacity of countries and companies to ship goods to international markets, is a key ingredient for economic competitiveness, growth, and poverty reduction. Poor logistics performance creates a deadweight loss for producers and consumers alike, and results in a net waste of resources. Improved trade logistics, on...

First, the good news: The world has become considerably less poor. Today, 43 percent of people are considered to be living in poverty -- that is, living on less than $2 per day -- compared to 30 years ago when almost three-fourths of the developing world was doing so. Even...

One of the most distressing aspects of the frail economic recovery from the global crisis has been lagging job creation. In developed and developing countries alike, millions of people remain unemployed (some 200 million by ILO estimates), and many who still have jobs live in fear of losing...

Perhaps it is not surprising that trade with emerging economies is often more complicated, time consuming and costly than one would want. In addition to lacking some of the necessary physical infrastructure to transport goods, emerging economies frequently have complex and opaque regulatory requirements that create additional delays and increase...

In over 70 countries, from financial centers in Malaysia to the Middle East, Islamic finance has been growing rapidly around the world. In fact, Shariah-compliant financial assets have increased from about US$5 billion in the late 1980s to about US$1 trillion in 2010. Even more impressive is that this class...

The recent IMF recommendation for a second aid package to Greece -- amounting to 28 billion euros over the next four years -- helped push through the biggest sovereign debt restructuring in history, after Greece got private investors to forgive more than 100 billion euros in debt. The IMF decision,...

As we mark International Women's Day this week, let's not be complacent. Over the past century, we have come a long way in increasing women's voices, participation and agency in societies around the world. Unfortunately, as the effects of the financial crisis continue to be felt and other political developments...

In a world in economic turmoil, calls for greater fiscal austerity, leaner social entitlements, and smaller government expenditures are seemingly ubiquitous. From the United States to the Euro Zone, the size and role of government are being questioned. Yet, at the same time, the recent financial crisis has highlighted the...

The state of the global economy is now more troubled than what most pundits had predicted. The great recession of 2007-09 has left permanent scars and the global recovery has lost steam. In the industrialized world, the Eurozone is struggling to save its common currency and avert an even larger...

After the Second World War, advanced economies began an ambitious process toward capital account liberalization, which prioritized the liberalization of trade, the maintenance of fixed exchange rates, and a commitment to current account convertibility. Full capital account liberalization took over 30 years for advanced economies to achieve.

In the...

With a few exceptions, industrialized nations are still struggling with unemployment, unable to recover completely from the 2008 economic crisis. In the U.S. things seem to be improving as the unemployment rate fell in January to 8.3 percent, its lowest level since early 2009, according to the U.S. Department of...

Food prices are finally coming down after a year of spikes and high volatility. But we must remain vigilant. Prices of certain foods remain very high, and millions of people around the world are still at risk of suffering from malnutrition and hunger.

Let's get to the numbers first. According...

As the world struggles to recover from the financial crisis, developing and developed countries alike depend on effective finance ministries and their associated central finance agencies (CFAs) to help deliver good fiscal outcomes. Although ministries of finance usually assume the most prominent role at the country level, supporting CFAs can...

Global food prices remain high and volatile, affecting the poorest countries the most. Global prices might not be at their 2008 record high, but they are still well above their levels a year ago. For millions who are already vulnerable, events like the droughts in the Horn of...

Investing more on roads, bridges and schools is an essential part of President Obama's American Jobs Act. If this is important in the current U.S. context, the role of both infrastructure and education in job creation is even more fundamental in developing countries, where there's much more to be done...

Last week, world leaders gathered in Cannes, France to discuss the future of the global economy. Key on the agenda were issues surrounding the European sovereign debt crisis, new capital requirements for banks, commodity and food price volatility, and climate change. Also addressed were the challenges facing the multilateral trading...

Turmoil is not solely circumscribed to Wall Street and stock markets around the world. Volatility is also affecting global food prices, and with them, millions of people in developing countries. So, just as the world marks the birth of the 7 billionth baby this week, his or her family might...

Market volatility, fears of a double-dip, lack of investor confidence and social demonstrations from Wall Street to Main Streets around the world are just some of the headlines we face today.

For a time, it looked like the world was finally leaving behind the Great Recession that originated with the...