If you were asked where people borrow from for their daily consumption needs, credit cards from mega-banks seem the obvious answer. However, across the developing world where brick-and-mortar banks are often inaccessible, individuals resort to local alternatives: ‘Kiranas’ or small grocery stores. No credit scores. No collateral. No paperwork. Just a shopkeeper’s quick judgment call,…
When heavy rains once again pushed parts of Porto Alegre in Brazil underwater last year, it underscored a pattern across many emerging markets: climate shocks are arriving faster than cities can rebuild. For emerging economies, climate-related disasters can cost approximately 0.3% of GDP annually, yet nearly 70% of those economic losses remain uninsured [1]. Floods…
For decades, the U.S. dollar has served as the undisputed anchor of the global financial system – the primary currency for international trade, global assets, and central bank reserves. But as the world enters an era of increasing fragmentation, is that dominance under threat? At a recent Wheeler Institute event, Kenneth Rogoff, Maurits C. Boas…
