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Célestin Monga

Célestin Monga

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Célestin Monga, a former managing director at the United Nations Industrial Development Organization and a former senior economic adviser at the World Bank, is Adjunct Professor of Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School and a former vice president and chief economist at the African Development Bank Group. He is the co-editor, (with Justin Yifu Lin) of The Oxford Handbook of Structural Transformation (Oxford University Press, 2019) and the co-author (with Justin Yifu Lin) of Beating the Odds: Jump-Starting Developing Countries (Princeton University Press, 2017).

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  1. Rethinking Debt Sustainability in Africa
    op_monga1_ISSOUF SANOGOAFP via Getty Images_CFAfranc Issouf Sanogo/AFP via Getty Images

    Rethinking Debt Sustainability in Africa

    Mar 3, 2023 Célestin Monga shows why analysts need a more holistic framework for assessing African countries' “balance sheets.”

  2. An Africa Roadmap for Biden
    monga9_JEWEL SAMADAFP via Getty Images_biden africa JEWEL SAMAD/AFP via Getty Images

    An Africa Roadmap for Biden

    Jan 27, 2021 Célestin Monga explains how the new administration can engage constructively with the continent on three levels.

  3. The Great Services Illusion
    monga8_EYERUSALEM JIREGNAAFP via Getty Images_ethiopiafactory Eyerusalem Jiregna/AFP via Getty Images

    The Great Services Illusion

    Sep 8, 2020 Célestin Monga offers four reasons why industrialization remains the key to poorer countries’ development.

  4. The Misguided War on Global Value Chains
    monga7_STRAFP via Getty Images_chinamanufacturingcoronavirus STR/AFP via Getty Images

    The Misguided War on Global Value Chains

    May 5, 2020 Célestin Monga shows why dismantling cross-border supply networks in response to the COVID-19 pandemic would be self-defeating.

  5. Economic Policies to Combat COVID-19 in Africa
    monga6_BADRU KATUMBAAFP via Getty Images_africaugandapharmacylinecoronavirus Badru Katumba/AFP via Getty Images

    Economic Policies to Combat COVID-19 in Africa

    Mar 27, 2020 Célestin Monga proposes four sets of measures to help mitigate the pandemic’s economic impact on the continent.

  1. kimooon31_RezaGetty Images_oil Reza/Getty Images

    Petrostates Must Take the Lead on Climate Finance

    Ban Ki-moon, et al. urges oil-exporting countries to kickstart a program of green investment in the Global South at COP28.
  2. fratzscher18_ODD ANDERSENAFP via Getty Images_germany debt brake ODD ANDERSEN/AFP via Getty Images

    Germany’s Debt Brake Is Breaking Its Economy

    Marcel Fratzscher warns that a flawed constitutional rule is undermining the country’s ability to pursue essential reforms.
  3. schaaf1_JEWEL SAMADAFP via Getty Images_cop28 JEWEL SAMAD/AFP via Getty Images

    Why COP28 Has Already Failed

    Marta Schaaf & Kristine Beckerle say that the UAE’s repression of dissidents and rights activists serves defenders of the climate status quo.
  4. pistor30_Justin SullivanGetty Images_sam altman Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

    In AI, Capital Wins Again

    Katharina Pistor

    The OpenAI saga – in which founder and CEO Sam Altman was suddenly fired and then reinstated, together with a new governing board – may have been enthralling, but it was neither novel nor surprising. Historically, capital usually wins out when there are competing visions for the future of an innovative product or business model.

    shows why OpenAI’s efforts to preserve its founding non-profit mission never stood any chance.
  5. rajan80_BRENDAN BANNONAFP via Getty Images_climaterefugees Brendan Bannon/AFP via Getty Images

    Justice for Climate Migrants

    Sameh Shoukry & Amy E. Pope

    Climate change is expected to displace tens of millions of people by mid-century, especially in the Global South. By enhancing international cooperation, we could improve the lives and livelihoods of the displaced and develop sustainable solutions that enable affected communities to rebuild.

    urge leaders to take a holistic approach to addressing the sharp increase in weather-related displacement.
  6. Haldar_Say-More_Busakorn-via-GettyRF

    Antara Haldar on behavioral economics, development models, global governance, and more

    Antara Haldar advocates a radical rethink of development, explains what went right at the recent AI Safety Summit, highlights the economics discipline’s shortcomings, and more.
  7. The symbol of the Euro Hannelore Foerster/Getty Images

    The New Normal for Central Banks

    Lucrezia Reichlin asks why the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank keep providing liquidity directly to banks.
  8. benami208_FADEL SENNAAFP via Getty Images_israel palestine FADEL SENNA/AFP via Getty Images

    The False Choice Between Palestinian and Jewish Liberation

    Shlomo Ben-Ami rejects the facile moralism of those who view the ongoing war through the narrow lens of decolonization.
  9. buruma208_Patrick van KatwijkBSR AgencyGetty Images_wilders1 Patrick van KatwijkBSR AgencyGetty Images

    The Rage of the Outsiders

    Ian Buruma shows what Geert Wilders has in common with other ultra-nationalist politicians, past and present.

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