## EDITOR'S LETTER

## Source details

**Canonical URL:** [EDITOR'S LETTER](https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/publications/fandd/article/2022/march/editors-letter.pdf)

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### On the cover
- Illustrator Peter Reynolds’ cover art features a money tree losing leaves as a storm approaches, symbolizing the need for government spending in times of crisis.
- Issue: MARCH 2022
- Highlights listed on the cover:
  - Blanchard on when debt becomes unsafe P.8
  - Understanding the social state P.21
  - Currency revolution P.62

### Theme — Rethinking Fiscal: Public Finance and Fairness in a Changed World
- Opening framing: "NEARLY A CENTURY AGO, Joseph Schumpeter wrote, 'The spirit of a people, its cultural level, its social structure...all this and more is written in its fiscal history.... The public finances are one of the best starting points for an investigation of society.'"
- Pandemic fiscal response characterization:
  - Fiscal policy showed power and agility "far beyond what was previously thought possible."
  - Governments "channeled cash directly to households and businesses to save jobs and livelihoods."
  - As noted by the IMF’s Vitor Gaspar, these actions demonstrated government’s "special role in protecting the vulnerable when things go wrong."
- Policy challenge identified:
  - After expansive pandemic-era fiscal measures, "the bill is coming due."
  - Governments must reduce "unprecedented debts to more sustainable levels while maintaining support for health systems and the most vulnerable."
- Purpose of the issue:
  - Contributors examine how fiscal policy can be retooled for the post-pandemic world to deliver public value and a balanced economy for all.

### Perspectives and substantive findings in the issue (as summarized)
- On debt:
  - Olivier Blanchard rejects simple fiscal rules and calls for policymakers to ask tough questions about the interplay of interest rates, economic growth, and political stability.
  - Ceyla Pazarbasioglu and Carmen Reinhart urge emerging market and developing economies to completely account for hidden debts to sustain growth and avoid the risk of default.
  - Ricardo Reis concludes that price stability matters now more than ever.
- On social policy and the welfare state:
  - Emmanuel Saez defends the need for an expansive welfare state.
  - Paolo Mauro argues policymakers can muster broader support if they consider the full range of moral perspectives on public finance.
- Other focal points:
  - Fiscal balancing acts to address inequality.
  - Fiscal support for the green transition.
- Overarching judgment:
  - Policymakers face "myriad uncertainties and difficult trade-offs" and must be prepared to adjust priorities to create economies that are "fairer, more inclusive, and sustainable."
  - Final assessment: "For in the end, how a society manages its fiscal affairs decides the fate of the nation and the well-being of its people."

### Editorial and production information
- Editor-in-chief: Gita Bhatt
- Managing editor: Maureen Burke
- Deputy managing editor: Peter Walker
- Senior editors: Analisa Bala; Adam Behsudi; Nicholas Owen
- Assistant editor: Andrew Stanley
- Digital editor: Rose Kouwenhoven
- Online editor: Rekia Ennaboulssi
- Production manager: Melinda Weir
- Copy editor: Lucy Morales
- Advisors to the editor: (list begins) Ruchir Agarwal; Bernardin Akitoby; Celine Allard; Steven Barnett; Nicoletta Batini; Helge Berger; S. Pelin Berkman; Paul Cashin; Oya Celasun; Martin Čihák; Alfredo Cuevas; Era Dabla-Norris; Mame Astou Diouf; Rupa Duttagupta; Hamid Faruqee; Davide Furceri; Deniz Igan; Kenneth Kang; Subir Lall; Raphael Lam; Christian Mumssen; Papa N’Diaye; Mahvash Qureshi; Uma Ramakrishnan; Daria Zakharova
- Publication details:
  - Finance & Development is published quarterly by the International Monetary Fund, 700 19th Street NW, Washington, DC 20431, in English, Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, and Spanish.
  - English edition ISSN 0145-1707
- Subscriber services and contact:
  - IMF Publication Services, Finance & Development, PO Box 92780, Washington, DC 20090, USA
  - Telephone: (202) 623-7430
  - Fax: (202) 623-7201
  - E-mail: publications@imf.org

*Source: EDITOR'S LETTER, editors-letter (Finance & Development, March 2022).*

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_Source: https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/publications/fandd/article/2022/march/editors-letter.pdf_