April 21, 2015 By iMFdirect editors
All happy countries are alike; each unhappy country is unhappy in its own way.
This twist on Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina echoed through the seminars during the IMF’s Spring Meetings as most countries, while recovering, are struggling with the prospect of lower potential growth and the “new mediocre” becoming a “new reality.”
Our editors fanned out to cover what officials and civil society had to say about how to help countries pave their own path to happiness.
Even economists know money can’t buy happiness, but it can buy bridges and roads. Spending on infrastructure is good for jobs now and growth in the future. But who pays and what works for each country varies.
“Money is only part of the problem. Implementing something that makes sense is a huge problem,” said Rajiv B. Lall of India’s Infrastructure Development Finance Company.
A combination of public and private money is a popular solution.
“Most of our infrastructure projects have had participation from the private sector,” said Joaquim Vieira Ferreira Levy, Finance Minister of Brazil. “We need to differentiate infrastructure investments with markets returns, and those with social returns like public housing.”
“In Peru, we are increasingly using public-private partnerships for infrastructure projects because of their medium term benefits,” said Alonso Segura, Peru’s finance minister. “If you only rely on public procurement, you will move very slowly.”
We’ve also covered two hot-topic seminars in more detail: what to do about slower growth in Asia, and low inflation.
Ever since bankers lit a match under the global economy, how to get the financial system to help the economy has been widely debated, with a spotlight on Islamic finance.
