FROM THE EDITOR Youth Speaks Out oung people, hardest hit by the global economic youth and create opportunities for them. Harvard professor downturn, are speaking out and demanding David Bloom lays out the scope of the problem and empha- change. Coming of age in the Great Recession, sizes the importance of listening to young people. Other arti- the world’s youth face an uncertain future, with cles look at the need to improve education and skill levels, the Ylengthening job lines, diminished opportunities, and bleaker effect of the crisis on youth in advanced economies, and the prospects that are taking a heavy emotional toll. Some people role of the IMF. We also speak to six young people around the call them the iPod generation—insecure, pressured, over- world about their hopes and aspirations and how the crisis taxed, and debt-ridden—but insecure or not, around the has affected them. world young people are challenging a system that appears to Also in the magazine, we profile Fred Bergsten, examine have let many down. “Young people want a world economy the rise of the Chinese currency, look at the role of the credit that is more just, more equal, and more human,” says Angel rating agencies, discuss how to boost the empowerment of Gurría, secretary-general of the Organization for Economic women, and present our primer on macroprudential regula- Cooperation and Development. tion, seen as increasingly important to financial stability. The Great Recession has taken its toll on the different gen- In addition, for all who want a better understanding of erations in different ways. For the post–World War II baby basic macroeconomic concepts, we’d like to flag the release boom generation, it’s essentially a wealth crisis. A generation of the new compilation of our “Back to Basics” columns, that had hoped to retire has seen the value of its property and which we have assembled on one page of our website, savings dramatically eroded. For the group known as Gen X www.imf.org/fandd. (born 1965–80), it’s an income crisis. They should be in the Finally, we are sad to report the death of Michael Mussa, period of their life when they are earning the most, but the the IMF’s witty and trenchant former chief economist. He was downturn has depressed their salaries and threatens their 67. Mussa contributed widely and influentially to economic pensions. For Gen Y (1981–2000), it’s about their future and theory and empirics, and served as the Fund’s Economic the potentially damaging legacy of the boomer generation. Counsellor and Director of the Research Department from In recent issues of the magazine, we have looked at the 1991 to 2001. impact of aging populations on economies around the world and how inequality affects growth. In this issue of F&D, we Jeremy Clift look at the need to urgently address the challenges facing Editor-in-Chief

46 The Global Land Rush 53 Book Reviews Foreign investors are buying up farmland in In the Wake of the Crisis: Leading Economists developing countries Reassess Economic Policy, Olivier J. Blanchard, Rabah Arezki, Klaus Deininger, and Harris Selod David Romer, A. Michael Spence, and Joseph E. 50 Snapshot of Another Monetary Union Stiglitz, eds. Moving forward with reforms should help the Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, Eastern Caribbean Currency Union weather the and Poverty, Daron Acemoglu and James A. current economic uncertainties Robinson Alfred Schipke Finance and the Good Society, Robert J. Shiller 52 And the Walls Came Tumbling Down Atish Rex Ghosh interviews IMF historian James Boughton Illustration: pp. 26, 30, 34, 46, Seemeen Hashem/IMF. departments Photography: Cover, Justin Lane/EPA/Newscom; p. 2, Michael Spilotro/IMF; People in Economics p. 6, Monique Jaques/Corbis; p. 10, Suzanne Walstrom/Getty; p. 13, 2 Stephanie Rabemiafara/Art in All of Us/Corbis; p. 15, Andrew Lichtenstein/ An American Globalist Corbis; p. 18, Francis R. Malasig/EPA/Newscom; p. 20, Michael Spilotro/ Prakash Loungani profiles C. Fred Bergsten IMF; p. 40, Andrew Aitchison/Corbis; p. 44, Oscar Medrano Pérez; p. 45, 38 Back to Basics Amanda Koster/Corbis; p. 50, Destinations/Corbis; p. 52, Michael Spilotro/ IMF; p. 53, Stephen Jaffe/IMF; pp. 54–56, Michael Spilotro/IMF. What Is a Bank? Institutions that match up savers and borrowers “Empowering Women Is Smart Economics” © The World Bank help ensure that economies function smoothly Jeanne Gobat Read online at www.imf.org/fandd

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