This blog post argues that higher health spending is unlikely to be sustained because of the pandemic’s adverse impact on revenues, other spending pressures, and the resulting deteriorating fiscal position of LLMICs. This suggests that countries will need to undertake policy actions to create additi...

As developing countries recover from the pandemic, they will need to bring their public finances to a more sustainable position by streamlining public spending and strengthening the revenue base. The need to mobilize additional resources has been exacerbated by the recent economic turmoil triggered ...

The war in Ukraine is likely to have a profound impact on budget allocations, at least in developed countries. Pressures to raise military spending have intensified. Given the economic climate, other spending is likely to come under pressure.

The United States was once a major haven for refugees fleeing violent persecution overseas. Today it is much diminished. The US severely restricted refugee resettlement beginning in 2017. Annual refugee arrivals plummeted by 86 percent by fiscal year 2020—almost all before the pandemic. It is a door...

The previous US administration sought to end all US admissions of refugees, people who face violent persecution in their home countries. After four years of work dedicated to refugee exclusion, Trump officials succeeded in slashing admissions by 86 percent. In this blog, I’ll show how the Trump admi...

In a study of 131 IMF programs, I found that IMF conditionality in general helped to shield education and health spending from budget cuts in the short term, particularly during budget negotiations, but it did not succeed in significantly raising spending in relation to GDP over time. In this light,...

Turn on the news these days and you’re likely to be confronted with articles about worker shortages. Nurses, cooks, construction workers, accountants, care home employees, all seem to be in demand throughout high-income countries. Despite this need, these countries currently do very little to attrac...