This 2002 Annual Report describes world economic and financial developments in FY2002. During FY2002, the IMF faced important new challenges in an unusually unsettled world environment. After a period of strong expansion, the global economy experienced a widespread slowdown during the 2001 calendar year. By early 2002, however, thanks in large part to actions taken by key central banks to lower interest rates, there were encouraging signs that growth was recovering, although serious concerns remained in a number of countries.
Each year the Government deposits 1200 European policy documents for scrutiny, some of which are cleared straight away, whilst others are reserved for further scrutiny. These are normally considered by one of seven policy-based sub-committees and this report summarises the work undertaken by the Committee through its sub-committees. It also looks ahead to work it plans for next year including: the Subsiduarity Early Warning Mechanism and a scrutiny of the work of the European Commission.
The Australian community has become increasingly concerned about environmental issues, resulting in the Australian government placing a higher priority on global warming and climate change. This unique compilation, Water, Wind, Art and Debate highlights current research across a variety of Humanities and Science disciplines.
Research suggests that if the majority of a country's financial institutions are owned by the state, that country will experience slower financial development, less efficient financial systems, less private sector credit, and slower GDP growth. Yet more than 40 percent of the world's population live in countries in which public sector institutions dominate the banking system. In The Role of State-Owned Financial Institutions: Policy and Practice noted experts discuss the challenges presented by state-owned financial institutions and offer cross-disciplinary solutions for policymakers and banking regulators. The issues include: methods for effectively managing, reforming, and privatizing state-owned banks; the fiscal costs and contingent liabilities of state-owned banks; macroeconomic implications and the impact of state-owned banking on access to credit in an economy; guidance for effective supervision of state-owned banks; managerial perspectives on improving products, human resources, and risk; management case studies of different methods of privatization, such as initial public offerings, employee stock ownership plans, and strategic investors Contributors include David Binns (Beyster Institute), Robert Cull (World Bank), Ron Gilbert (ESOP Services), James A. Hanson (World Bank), Richard Hemming (International Monetary Fund), Fred Huibers (ING Research), Arminio Fraga (formerly Central Bank of Brazil), Nicholas Lardy (Institute for International Economics), David Marston (International Monetary Fund), Moody's Global Investor Service, Herman Mulder (ABN-Amro), William Nichol (Deutsche Bank AG), Urjit Patel (Infrastructure Development Finance Company, India), and P. S. Srinivas (World Bank).
Corporations in conflict zones and their provision of security are particularly relevant for understanding whether private actors are increasingly sources of governance contributions that regulate public goods. Feil highlights the discrepancies between political and theoretical expectations of corporate engagement and governance contributions.
