World Bank Global Economic Prospects Report: The magic of investment accelerations

The World Bank recently released the January 2024 edition of its Global Economic Prospects report. One of the analytical chapters, "The Magic of Investment Accelerations," discusses how investment powers economic growth, helps cut poverty, and will be indispensable for tackling climate change and achieving other key development goals in developing economies. Without significant policy action, however, investment growth in emerging economies is likely to remain tepid for the remainder of this decade.

Over the past seven decades, investment growth typically jumped to more than 10 percent per year during such episodes—more than three times the growth rate in other years. Countries that achieved investment accelerations often reaped an economic windfall, with output growth increasing by about 2 percentage points and productivity growth increasing by 1.3 percentage points per year. Other benefits also materialized: Inflation fell, fiscal and external balances improved, and the national poverty rate declined.

M. Ayhan Kose, deputy chief economist and director of the Prospects Group at the World Bank, and Kersten Stamm, economist in the Prospects Group of the World Bank's Development Economics Vice Presidency, and Arvind Subramanian, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE) present and discuss this topic. The program and Q&A session following the discussion is moderated by Adam S. Posen, PIIE president.