This paper reviews key findings of the IMF’s Annual Report for the fiscal year ended April 30, 1981. The report highlights that the world economic situation during 1980 and the first half of 1981 was difficult and disappointing in important respects. Nevertheless, signs of progress in dealing with some of the severe economic problems of recent years have begun to emerge. Both the encouraging aspects of the situation and the difficulties confronting national authorities, as well as the policies being utilized to meet those difficulties, are outlined in this report.

This paper reviews key findings of the IMF’s Annual Report for the fiscal year ended April 1950. The report highlights that the widespread devaluation of currencies that took place in September 1949 was the most far-reaching in any comparable period in recent times. Thirteen members agreed new par values with the IMF, most of them involving a devaluation of approximately 30.5 percent in relation to the U.S. dollar. Six member countries with which the IMF has no agreed par value also depreciated their exchange rates.

The global economy has experienced four waves of rapid debt accumulation over the past 50 years. The first three debt waves ended with financial crises in many emerging market and developing economies. During the current wave, which started in 2010, the increase in debt in these economies has already been larger, faster, and broader-based than in the previous three waves. Current low interest rates mitigate some of the risks associated with high debt. However, emerging market and developing economies are also confronted by weak growth prospects, mounting vulnerabilities, and elevated global risks. A menu of policy options is available to reduce the likelihood that the current debt wave will end in crisis and, if crises do take place, will alleviate their impact.

This pamphlet is adapted from Chapter 1 of Silent Revolution: The International Monetary Fund, 1979-89, by the same author. That book is full of history of the evolution of the Fund during 11 years in which the institution truly came of age as a participant in the international financial system.

This publication was prepared by the UNCTAD secretariat to commemorate the first three decades of the Trade and Development Report (TDR) - UNCTAD's main flagship publication - whose first edition was published in 1981.Part one of this publication traces the key issues relating to the global economy and development strategies discussed in various TDRs over the past three decades. It also shows how the ideas, analytical perspectives and policy proposals expressed in the TDR have differed from "mainstream" thinking, and how they have evolved in response to new challenges arising from global economic developments.The salient features reviewed in this publication are: the concept of interdependence, which has shaped the TDRs' policy analyses and recommendations over three decades; the approach of the TDR to macroeconomic and financial policies in both developed and developing countries; the TDRs' contribution to the debate about the shortcomings and the need for reform of global governance in trade, finance and macroeconomics; the TDRs' assessments of the failures and successes of development policy, as well as their recommendations for development strategies, taking into account lessons from past experiences; and Issues that remain topical and others that may become relevant for analysis in future TDRs.Part two of the publication comprises the contributions of the experts who participated in a panel discussion on "Thinking Development: Three Decades of the Trade and Development Report", a pre-Conference event for UNCTAD XIII, which took place in Geneva on 20 February 2012.

This comprehensive history, published jointly by the IMF and Oxford University Press, was written to mark the fiftieth anniversary of international monetary cooperation. From the establishment of the postwar international monetary system in 1944 to how the framework functions in a vastly expanded world economy, historian Harol James describes the tensions, negotiations, challenges, and progress of international monetary cooperation. This narrative offers a global perspective on the events and decisions that have shaped the world economy during the past fifty years.