Essay 104: Economics—A Decade after the Global Recession: Lessons and Challenges for Emerging and Developing Economies

from M. Ayhan Kose, Director, Prospects Group, World Bank Group:

Dear Colleagues.

This year marks the tenth anniversary of the 2009 global recession. Most emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs) weathered the global recession relatively well, in part by using the sizeable fiscal and monetary policy buffers accumulated during the prior years of strong growth. However, a short-lived rebound in activity has been followed by a decade of protracted weakness in EMDEs amid bouts of financial market stress, falling commodity prices, and subdued trade and investment.

Are EMDEs ready to face a deeper global downturn, if it materializes? Our new study A Decade After the Global Recession: Lessons and Challenges for Emerging and Developing Economies [PDF] takes on this question. It examines developments of the past decade, draws lessons for these economies, and discusses policy options. The study is the first comprehensive analysis on the topic with a truly EMDE focus. It offers three main conclusions. First, perhaps for the first time, many EMDEs were able to implement large-scale countercyclical fiscal and monetary policy stimulus during the last global recession. Second, looking ahead, policymakers in many EMDEs are now equipped with stronger policy frameworks than in earlier global downturns or financial crises. Third, EMDEs have now less policy room to face a global downturn than they had before the 2009 global recession. Irrespective of the timing of the next global downturn, the big lesson of the past decade for EMDEs is clear: since they are less well prepared today than prior to the 2009 episode, they urgently need to undertake cyclical and structural policy measures to be able to effectively confront the next downturn when it happens.

You can download the book here [PDF]. Its table of contents is below (each chapter individually downloadable). All charts featured in the book (with underlying data series) are also available below.

A Decade After the Global Recession: Lessons and Challenges for Emerging and Developing Economies [PDF]

Edited by M. Ayhan Kose and Franziska Ohnsorge

Part I: Context

Chapter 1: A Decade After the Global Recession: Lessons and Challenges [PDF]
Chapter 2: What Happens During Global Recessions? [PDF]

Part II: In the Rearview Mirror

Chapter 3: Macroeconomic Developments [PDF]
Chapter 4: Financial Market Developments [PDF]
Chapter 5: Macroeconomic and Financial Sector Policies [PDF]

Part III: Looking Ahead

Chapter 6: Prospects, Risks, and Vulnerabilities [PDF]
Chapter 7: Policy Challenges [PDF]

Part IV: Implications for the World Bank Group

Chapter 8: The Role of the World Bank Group [PDF]

Excel Charts

Complete archive [ZIP]

Chapter 1 [XLSX]
Chapter 2 [XLSX]
Chapter 3 [XLSX]
Chapter 4 [XLSX]
Chapter 5 [XLSX]
Chapter 6 [XLSX] Box [XLSX]
Chapter 7 [XLSX]
Chapter 8 [XLSX]

PS: This study follows on the World Bank Group’s recent book on Inflation in Emerging and Developing Economies. For their main periodical products, please visit: Global Economic Prospects and Commodity Markets Outlook. For their full menu of monitoring publications, please visit: World Bank Economic Monitoring. For their analytical work on topical policy issues, please visit Prospects Group Policy Research Working Papers.