Macroeconomic Literacy Training

March 12-13, 2009
Cambridge, Massachusetts

The training provided a basic understanding of the effects of international financial institution policies on health, workforce, and social sector budgets in low-income countries.

Goals for the training:
Provide an overview of developing country health financing needs and of the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and their monetary and fiscal policies including their impacts on health budgets and wages for health workforces. Cover the background economic philosophy of the policies, possible policy alternatives for expanded public sector spending, and the role that organizations can play in working for change.

Speakers:
Rick Rowden
Independent Consultant and former ActionAid International USA Senior Policy Analyst
Brook K. Baker
Professor, Northeastern University School of Law, Program on Human Rights and the Global Economy, and Health GAP (Global Access Project) Co-Chair
James Heintz
Associate Director and Assistant Research Professor at Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Congressman Barney Frank
Fourth Congressional District of Massachusetts
Arlan Fuller
Policy Director, François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health & Human Rights
 

Presentations:
Basic Introduction and Evolving Roles of International Financial Institutions (IFIs): The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund; IMF’s historical mission: balance of payments and currency exchange rates; IMF Governance, control by rich-countries; how IMF agreements get made and the role of Ministries of Finance, Ministries of Health, Central Banks, etc.; what all the acronyms mean (PRSP, PRGF, HIPC, PSI, etc.); IMF Leverage via lending, signaling, and technical assistance.

Alternative Macroeconomic Policies for Increasing Public Spending & Investment and Upcoming Advocacy Opportunities: In-depth presentation of budget constraints stemming from fiscal policies, inflation and fiscal deficit targets, budget/wage ceilings, Dutch Disease, currency reserves, absorption, direct foreign aid, and fungibility; and an exploration of more expansionary fiscal and monetary policies to increase public sector spending on health; presentation of examples.

Budget constraints stemming from IMF fiscal and monetary policies

Important Macroeconomic Quotes

How (and Why) the IMF Blocks Health Sector Spending in Developing Countries

The Long and Tortured Road to Adequate and Sustained Donor Financing for Health

Resources:
Glossary of Macroeconomic Terms

Sources on Alternative Macroeconomic Policies

The Pernicious, Continuing Impact of IMF Macroeconomic Constraint Policies on Domestic and Donor Health Spending

Changing IMF Policies to Get More Doctors, Nurses and Teachers Hired in Developing Countries

This conference was sponsored by the Institute for Health and Social Justice at Partners In Health, Physicians for Human Rights, ActionAid International USA, Health GAP, and the François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health & Human Rights.