Why are reserves so big? And who is to blame?

Shimelse Ali, Uri Dadush, Rachel Esplin Odell, 7 June 2011The limited resort to protectionism during the financial crisis is often attributed to the WTO or to sensible macroeconomic policy. This column argues that there is more to the story. The combination of national laws, regional agreements, and powerful interest groups has worked to stop protectionism in its tracks. Full Article: Is protectionism dying?

Yi Gang, Vice Governor of the People's Bank of China (PBOC), recently made the headlines with his comments on Chinese gold reserves. On Wednesday, Mr. Yi stated that China's gold reserves remain static at 1,054 tonnes, and suggested that a sizeable increase in those reserves would be unlikely in the future. "We need to take into account both the stability of the market and gold prices," Mr.

Rong Qian, Carmen M. Reinhart, Kenneth Rogoff, 31 August 2010Are declarations of victory against the global crisis premature? This column argues that “graduation” – the emergence from recurrent crisis bouts – is a long and painful process which neither developed nor developing countries look close to completing. Two centuries of evidence suggests that most countries need 50 years before the chances of further crises subside.Full Article: Do countries “graduate” from crises? An historical perspective

By Willem Thorbecke Today, we're fortunate to have Willem Thorbecke, Senior Research Fellow at Asian Development Bank Institute and a Consulting Fellow at Japan's Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry, as a guest contributor. Asia's role in the propagation of the global recession has been a subject of study, but relatively little attention has been devoted to the interaction of exchange rates a

Timothy J. Sturgeon, Johannes Van Biesebroeck, 10 August 2010Could the car industry in developing countries start to produce vehicles that can compete domestically – perhaps even globally? This column argues that while the prospects for the automotive sector are still less promising than for other industries, as the markets for motor vehicles shift to the developing world and production inevitably follows, more development and design work will shift as well.

Bernard Hoekman, Guido Porto, 18 June 2010When developing countries open up their markets, there are costs as well as benefits. This column presents findings from a collection of papers investigating adjustment to trade. It argues that unemployment is only part of the story, adding that the development community should aim to address the constraints that prevent too many households from seizing the newly available opportunities.Full Article: Trade adjustment costs in developing countries