policy papers
Series of Policy Papers on Trade and Investment
May 25, 2010 - The South Centre (Geneva) and the Harrison Institute of Georgetown Law Center (Washington, D.C.) prepared the following six papers which focus on the fact that, whereas tariffs are a primary barrier to trade in goods, domestic laws and regulations are the primary barrier to trade in service sectors. more»
Policy Paper
The World Bank Reboots – May 10, 2010 - The World Bank’s Investment Lending Reforms (ILR) will significantly shift the way in which the institution operates.  This re-issued paper contains updated information on the reforms and the implications of these reforms for people and the environment in recipient countries. Nancy Alexander more»
report
Are the World Bank’s Anti-Corruption Efforts Corrupted? – April 21, 2010 - In 2009, the World Bank’s Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) released an unprecedented 700-page evaluation which found evidence that the institution is failing to adequately address the risks of fraud and corruption in its assistance programs. Nancy Alexander, Beatrice Edwards and Bruce Rich more»
report
Standing in the Way of Development? – Between January 2007 and June 2009, the IMF claims that it was more flexible in terms of providing greater policy space to low-income countries to boost spending in the face of fuel, food and financing crises.  To examine this claim, scholars at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) examined the empirical evidence in 13 countries.  Learn about their findings in this report. Bhumika Muchhala, Nuria Molina and Nancy Alexander more»
article
Read about the IMF, the World Bank, and the G-20 – This month, the IMF and World Bank host their spring meetings in Washington, DC, which are scheduled on the “heels” of a G-20 meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors.  For short articles on 1) Questions about the upcoming IMF and World Bank meetings; 2) Introducing the G-20; and 3) Some G-20 Perspectives on the World Bank, click here more»
report
Fostering Impunity or Accountability? Sweeping Changes at the World Bank-IDA – January 2010
In this report, Nancy Alexander discusses the responses of the World Bank to the current economic crisis. By Nancy Alexander more»
Speech
Global Governance and Threats to a Sustainable Future – Nancy Alexander of the Heinrich Böll Stiftung spoke on the Occasion of the IMF and World Bank Annual Meeting in Istanbul, October 2009 more»
speech
Climate Financing and the World Bank – The IMF and the World Bank to the Rescue? – October 2009
Independently from one another, the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change (IPCC) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have each come to a similar conclusion: The poorest countries and the poorest population groups will be the hardest hit by both climate change and the global economic and financial crisis. By Barbara Unmüßig more»
Workshop
Blind-sided by the Global Economic Crisis: Should Experts Have Seen the Crisis Brewing? Can they See the Solutions? – October 5, 2009
Most “experts”- including the financial press and think tanks - didn’t see the global financial crisis coming. Why might this be the case?  more»
workshop
Dialogue with the IMF: How is the IMF Measuring Up to Its Promises of Reform? – October 4, 2009
This panel disscussed the lates reforms of the IMF and whether or not it is esuring that governments have sufficient "policy space" to respond to citizens and their elected representatives. more»
Workshop
The IMF’s Future: Promise and Peril – October 4, 2009
This worshop discussed the nature and impact of IMF reforms in Turkey and Brazil; nature of the reforms undertaken by the IMF in 2009 and their implications, particularly for low-income countries; and questions about the institution’s future. more»
Article
Limits to Growth in China, too – July 2009
With its gigantic domestic market, its allure to foreign investors, and the world’s largest currency reserve, China should be better prepared to weather the financial crisis than other emerging markets. Yet China’s exports account for 40 percent of its GDP and it has thus been deeply impacted by the worldwide recession, especially by the drop in U.S. demand By Barbara Unmüßig more»
Report
Der UN-Sondergipfel zur globalen Wirtschaftskrise - eine Nebenrolle mit Wiederholungscharakter? (in German only) – June 2009
Beitrag zum UN-Sondergipfel zur Wirtschaftskrise und dessen zukünftige Rolle in globalen Wirtschafts- und Finanzfragen.
By Liane Schalatek more»
Conference
A United Nations High Level Conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis and its Impact on Development – An Assessment from the South – June 2009
From June 22 - 27, 2009, the UN High Level Conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis and its Impact on Development took place in New York.  more»
report
G 20 and the Bretton Woods Institutions: Don't just give them more money, fundamentally reform them! – April 2009
Following the G20 Summit, a commentary by Heinrich Böll Founddation Co-President Barbara Unmüßig and Korinna Horta from the Environmental Defense Fund argues that the G20 missed an opportunity to fundamentally reform the Bretton Woods Institutions and to steer them toward a global course that would tackle the global financial crisis and the global climate crisis together. By Korinna Horta and Barbara Unmüßig more»