Which Way the Wind Blows

IMF Blog, September 2, 2014

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Marks the 70th anniversary of the IMF and World Bank and the 50th anniversary of F&D.
Thematic inspiration drawn from Bob Dylan’s line “The times, they are a-changin’” to examine transformations of the global economy over the past seven decades and prospects for the next 70 years.
Central question posed: what will the global economy look like in another 70 years?

Five Nobel laureates asked to identify a single “frontier” issue likely to shape the economic landscape: George Akerlof, Paul Krugman, Robert Solow, Michael Spence, and Joseph Stiglitz.
IMF leadership perspectives:
- Christine Lagarde: charts a course for the IMF in the next decade in a Straight Talk piece.
- Olivier Blanchard: distills lessons from the 2008 global financial crisis and calls for economists to change how they view the world.
Additional notable contributors and topics:
- Ayhan Kose and Ezgi Ozturk: open their chart-article on economic transformations of the past 70 years with words from Bob Dylan.
- Martin Wolf (Financial Times): piece on the perils and promise of globalization.
- Kalpana Kochhar, Yan Sun, Evridiki Tsounta, and Niklas Westelius: analysis of economic trends to prepare for future challenges.
- Rex Ghosh: primer on the postwar monetary system.
- Jeffrey Ball: article on the future of energy in the global economy.
- Jonathan Ostry and Andrew Berg: primer on measuring inequality.

First-time editorial experiments:
- A seven-page comic by cartoonist Nick Galifianakis and Joe Procopio telling the story of the IMF’s origins.
- Picture This feature examining the Beatles and their role as an export earner.
Profile piece on Ken Arrow:
- Portrait of Nobel winner and Stanford professor Ken Arrow, highlighting his early passion for math and meteorology during World War II and his influential career in economics.

Emphasis on change: retrospective and forward-looking analyses of the global economy across several domains (monetary system, globalization, energy, inequality).
Cross-cutting message: the need to reassess economic thinking in light of recent crises and long-term transformations.

Source: IMF blog post “Which Way the Wind Blows,” Jeff Hayden, September 2, 2014