an emerging source of global development finance that is vertically earmarked towards a single issue, such as fighting HIV-AIDS, malaria or tuberculosis, rather than horizontally towards a programme area, such as building better health care systems. Since the late 1990s and the arrival of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, the [..]

the levy represents a small solidarity tax on airline tickets. The proceeds from the levy are intended to support international development efforts, are pooled and coordinated through UNITAID, and are donated to existing national and international development institutions (e.g. Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the Clinton Fou [..]

also East Asian Monetary Fund. See “Chiang Mai Initiative”

a common name for the IMF-coordinated emergency rescue loans to economies in crisis. The most immediate beneficiaries of bailouts are typically foreign investors, while citizens are left holding the IMF debt bill.

the total of all international transactions undertaken by a country during a given time. Sales to foreigners are recorded as credits while purchases of goods, services or assets are recorded as debits. The BOP statement includes summaries of both the current account and the capital account.

Bank for International Settlements (BIS)* - BIS serves as a bank for central banks, and exists to foster international monetary and financial cooperation. It conducts research in areas of interest to central banks, supports the work of the Basel Committee, and assists central banks and other monetary institutions in the management of their foreign [..]

the first round of deliberations by central bankers from around the world. In 1988, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) in Basel, Switzerland, published a set of minimal capital requirements for banks. This is also known as the 1988 Basel Accord, and was enforced by law in the Group of Ten (G-10) countries in 1992, with Japanese banks [..]

the second of the Basel Accords, published in 2004. These are recommendations on banking laws and regulations. . Basel II has three pillars; 1 is minimum capital requirements, 2. Supervisory review and 3. Market discipline. The purpose of pillar 1 is to create an international standard that banking regulators can use when creating regulations about [..]

this term originates from a 2003 Goldman Sachs paper in which the authors predicted that the economies of the emerging markets of Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRICs) will overtake the world’s wealthiest countries by 2050. 

wealth available for input into the economy. Real capital is invested in equipment, buildings and production. Finance capital is stored in banks or invested in financial instruments. Human capital is the economic value of people's knowledge, skills and physical work.