Regaining Momentum

Delfin S. Go, Richard Harmsen, and Hans Timmer
Progress on the Millennium Development Goals has been slowed by the crisis. The rest of the world has to help

Making a Breakthrough

Pedro Conceição and Selim Jahan
To accelerate progress toward the Millennium Development Goals, growth must happen in sectors that directly benefit the poor, such as agriculture

Saving Mothers’ Lives

Melinda Gates
Countries must make maternal health a policy priority

Time for a Rethink

Jagdish Bhagwati
It is hard to object to the Millennium Development Goals, but that doesn’t mean they lay out an effective blueprint for development

Half Empty or Half Full

Andrew Berg and Luis-Felipe Zanna
Does aid work? The net impact of aid surges depends on country-specific factors

Growing out of Poverty

Arvind Panagariya
Economic expansion reduces poverty by creating employment opportunities and making anti-poverty programs fiscally feasible

Inequality Is Untenable

Rodney Ramcharan
If policymakers neglect income distribution, the consequences for individuals and society can be grave

Fiscal Fortunes

How Grim a Fiscal Future?

Mark Horton
For most advanced economies, both the near term and the longer term are tight, but there are ways to ease budget pressures

A Hidden Fiscal Crisis

Laurence J. Kotlikoff
A noted U.S. economist says debt figures seriously understate long-term budget problems in the United States

Building a Social Safety Net

Steve Barnett and Nigel Chalk
China embarks on an effort to improve both pensions and health care in the world’s most populous nation

The Long Run Is Near

Kevin Cheng, Erik De Vrijer, and Irina Yakadina
France, like many advanced economies, confronts the expensive needs of a rapidly aging population

By the Rule

Michel Camdessus and Renaud Guidée
In France, a commission proposes a rule-based framework to set the country on a path to balanced budgets

Also in This Issue

After the Supernova

Ashok Vir Bhatia
Crisis management lessons from the IMF’s assessment of the U.S. financial system

Judgment Day

S. Raihan Zamil
Changing the rules alone cannot make the financial system safe. The judgment of banking supervisors is crucial

Return to Form

Helge Berger and Martin Schindler
Germany’s economy is again Europe’s locomotive, but its export dependence is both a blessing and a curse

Finding New Data

Adelheid Burgi-Schmelz
The global crisis revealed vast gaps in international financial statistics that authorities are working to fill