## Which Way the Wind Blows

_IMF Blog, September 2, 2014_

## Source details

**Canonical URL:** [Which Way the Wind Blows](https://www.imf.org/en/blogs/articles/2014/09/02/which-way-the-wind-blows)

## Other formats

- [Markdown version](/en/blogs/articles/2014/09/02/which-way-the-wind-blows/index.md)
- [Structured JSON version](/en/blogs/articles/2014/09/02/which-way-the-wind-blows/index.json)
- [Bundle manifest](/en/blogs/articles/2014/09/02/which-way-the-wind-blows/bundle-manifest.json)

## Bibliographic details
- Authors: Jeff Hayden
- Published: September 2, 2014

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### Issue framing and purpose
- 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?

### Featured contributors and focal pieces
- 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.

### Innovations and presentation features in this issue
- 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.

### Themes and takeaways
- 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*

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## References

- [this edition of F&D magazine](http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2014/09/index.htm)
- [Their responses](http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2014/09/nobels.htm)
- [Straight Talk](http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2014/09/straight.htm)
- [distills the lessons](http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2014/09/blanchard.htm)
- [economic transformations](http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2014/09/kose.htm)
- [perils and promise of globalization](http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2014/09/wolf.htm)
- [economic trends](http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2014/09/kochhar.htm)
- [the postwar monetary system](http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2014/09/ghosh.htm)
- [future of energy](http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2014/09/ball.htm)
- [measuring inequality](http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2014/09/ostry.htm)
- [story of the IMF’s origins](http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2014/09/procopio.htm)
- [Picture This](http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2014/09/picture.htm)
- [Ken Arrow](http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2014/09/people.htm)

_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/blogs/articles/2014/09/02/which-way-the-wind-blows_