No one is protected from the global pandemic until everyone is' has become a popular mantra. But vaccine apartheid worldwide, due to rich countries' policies, has made Covid-19 a developing country pandemic, delaying its end and global economic recovery. SYSTEMIC INEQUITIES: Most rich countries ha
The Covid-19 pandemic continues to take an unprecedented human and economic toll, wiping away years of modest and uneven progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Developing countries now need much more support as progress towards the SDGs was 'not on track' even before the pandemi
Covid-19 recessions have hit most countries, requiring massive fiscal responses. While most developing countries struggled with mounting debt even before the pandemic, many developed countries also face unprecedented macroeconomic pressures despite earlier spending cuts due to "fiscal consolidation
As the epicentre of the Covid-19 pandemic shifts from China to the developed West, all too many rich countries are acting selfishly, invoking the 'national interest', by banning exports of vital medical supplies. US President Donald Trump has reportedly gone further by seeking exclusive rights to
In light of the uncertainty caused by the US-China trade war, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects the US economic growth to slow from a three-year high of 2.9 per cent in 2018 to 2.5 per cent in 2019, while China's expansion has already slowed in recent years, albeit from much higher leve
Foreign direct investment (FDI) is increasingly touted as the elixir for economic growth. While not against FDI, the mid-2015 Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA) for financing development also cautioned that it "is concentrated in a few sectors in many developing countries and often bypasses countries
The Trump administration's promise to increase infrastructure spending should break the straightjacket the Republicans imposed on the Obama administration after capturing the US Congress in 2010. However, in proportionate terms, it falls far short of Roosevelt's New Deal effort to revive the US eco
