Countries interpret the global economic crisis

by Emily Kallaur

Although the effects of the global economic crisis are being felt around the world, it’s interesting to hear how different the impact has been from country to country. A conference I attended recently brought together financial management professionals from the public, private, and non-profit sectors to share country perspectives.

In the developed world, the crisis has prompted people to question their most basic assumptions about the roles of governments and markets. There is a sense that there has been a fundamental and permanent shift and that capitalism will never be the same again. This has also created a window of opportunity for dramatic policy reform.

Listening to colleagues from developing countries, I had the impression that although the effect of the crisis has been large, its implications have been more mundane. Export revenues have fallen. Some are worried that development assistance could decline. Many countries are anxious to diversify their economies away from dependence on oil, tourism, or a single commodity like tobacco.

But there wasn’t an overwhelming sense that these problems are fundamentally different in nature from problems faced in the past. Reforms have been underway for some time and implementation of those reforms continues to be relevant.

There is, on the other hand, a more skeptical attitude toward policies recommended by the countries that created the crisis.