The global economy got off to a bumpy start this year, but growth in 2015 and 2016 looks to be broadly on track. Projections for developing countries in 2014 have been down downgraded by 0.5 percentage points to 4.8 percent mainly reflecting weak first quarter growth in the US due to weather and the conflict in Ukraine. Going forward growth is projected to firm to 5.3 and 5.5 percent in 2015 and 2016 supported by easy global financial conditions and rebounding exports as high-income countries continue to recover under the influence of a reduced drag from fiscal consolidation and improving labor markets. Financial conditions will eventually tighten, and when they do there is risk of further volatility. Most developing countries are in good fiscal and financial shape, but where vulnerabilities remain countries need to tighten policy to reduce the potential impact of external shocks. Overall, growth for developing countries will be solid but not strong enough to generate the income and employment gains needed to eliminate poverty by 2013. As a result, countries need to focus on structural reform in order to lift growth in and enduring and sustainable manner.

Ed. SPECULUM UNIVERSALIS, by SAIDU AHMED ENAGI ( Nigeria Country Chair, NGO CNRJ ), 2014.

This book offers a selection of the best papers presented during the International conference on Mitigating and Adapting Built Environments for Climate Change in the Tropics, held at Tanri Abeng University (TAU), Jakarta, Indonesia, March 2015. The book is divided into four main parts. The first part deals with the general issue of climate change, the cause and the ways to mitigate and to adapt the built environment for climate change in a number of countries. Part 2 deals with the conceptual ways to mitigate building for climate change. The ways to reduce cooling energy in tropical buildings by means of passive design. Part 3 offers papers that examine the way to overcome disasters in the city caused by climate change. The final part deals with the role of plants in mitigating and adapting built environments to climate change - the use of plants, trees and bushes to directly and indirectly reduce carbon emissions are discussed.

The global economy appears to be transitioning toward a more stable period. Although acute risks have diminished, real-side activity remains sluggish – especially in high-income Europe. Most developing countries have fully recovered from the crisis. Although growth is slower than during the boom period, it is in line with underlying potential, and output is projected to pick up only gradually to around 5.8 percent by 2015. High unemployment and spare capacity remain pressing problems in developing Europe and the Middle East and North Africa. With a more stable external environment, new risks and challenges are gaining prominence, including the potential impact on exporting countries of a faster than anticipated decline in commodity prices, the possibility that the eventual withdrawal of quantitative easing exposes vulnerabilities in developing countries, and the need to resort increasingly to supply-side rather than demand stimulus policies to achieve stronger growth.

High-income economies appear to be finally turning the corner, contributing to a projected acceleration in global growth from 2.4 percent in 2013 to 3.2 percent this year, 3.4 percent in 2015, and 3.5 percent in 2016. Overall, growth in developing countries is projected to pick up modestly from 4.8 percent in 2013 to 5.3 percent this year, 5.5 percent in 2015, and 5.7 percent in 2016. In the baseline, the withdrawal of quantitative easing (and its effect on the long end of U.S. interest rates) is assumed to follow a relatively slow orderly trajectory. If, however, the taper is met with an abrupt market adjustment, capital inflows could weaken sharply?placing renewed stress on vulnerable developing economies. In a scenario where long-term interest rates rise rapidly by 100 basis points, capital inflows could decline by as much as 50 percent for several quarters.

Developing countries, including as small states and least developed countries (LDCs), continue to face significant challenges within the global trading system. Action is required to allow them to overcome disadvantages and achieve sustainable levels of income from trade. This study provides a fresh perspective on how measures can be taken to enhance the participation of small states, many of which are Commonwealth countries, in the multilateral trading system. It contributes to the ongoing general debate about reforming the World Trade Organization and global trade governance.

In recent years, Africa has undergone the longest period of sustained economic growth in the continent’s history, drawing the attention of the international media and academics alike. This book analyses the Africa Rising narrative from multidisciplinary perspectives, offering a critical assessment of the explanations given for the poor economic growth and development performance in Africa prior to the millennium and the dramatic shift towards the new Africa. Bringing in perspectives from African intellectuals and scholars, many of whom have previously been overlooked in this debate, the book examines the construction of Africa’s economic growth and development portraits over the years. It looks at two institutions that play a vital role in African development, providing a detailed explanation of how the World Bank and the IMF have interpreted and dealt with the African challenges and experiences. The insightful analysis reveals that if Africa is rising, only 20-30 per cent of Africans are aboard the rising ship, and the main challenge facing the continent today is to bring on board the majority of Africans who have been excluded from growth. This book makes the complex, and sometimes confusing debates on Africa’s economic growth experience more accessible to a wide range of readers interested in the Africa story. It is essential reading for students and researchers in African Studies, and will be of great interest to scholars in Development Studies, Political Economy, and Development Economics.

This volume analyzes the experiences of developing countries in Asia, Latin America, and Sub-Saharan Africa, and examines how they might catch up. Based on growth performance across the developing world over the last five decades, it offers a thorough account of the possibilities to engage in such processes in an increasingly globalized world. Together, the chapters highlight the diversity and variation of development pathways and provide valuable lessons and implications for how to approach this difficult question. The book shows the importance of acknowledging that the process of development is dynamic and that the possibilities for catch up are situation dependent. At the same time it makes clear that without structural change, and in particular agricultural transformation, sustained catch up is unlikely to happen. The volume demonstrates how analysis of current growth processes in developing countries can be enriched by paying closer attention to the multifaceted nature of both economic backwardness and successful pathways to escape it.

During the post-World War-II period, several Asian economies turned in stellar performances. This book addresses the all-important query regarding the ebullient growth performance of a group of dynamic Asian economies. Its principal focus is the so-called Asian growth model, which enabled them to achieve what became known as the 'miraculous' growth

The OECD Economic Outlook is the OECD's twice-yearly analysis of the major economic trends and prospects for the next two years.