Boao Forum is an annual conference that brings together government, business, and academic leaders to discuss economic and social issues in Asia. Chinese President Xi Jinping gave the keynote speech, titled Working Together Toward a Better Future for Asia and the World, on April 7, 2013.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has focused his second term in office to implementing an audacious set of economic policies designed to spur the country out of its decades-long deflation and sluggish growth, explains this Backgrounder.

The debt crisis that has hammered southern Europe since 2010 will have long-lived economic effects, despite the moderation in Spanish and Italian government borrowing costs since the European Central Bank's "Outright Monetary Transactions" initiative last September.

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Peter Orszag writes that the link between life expectancy and college completion is not well understood, but they appear to be related to growing income inequality.

Jagdish Bhagwati and Amrita Narlikar write that the only way to ensure safe working environments is to make them "legislated and pursued with zeal."

This chart book shows the growth in foreign ownership of U.S. assets over time.

David Lipton discusses the evolution of the IMF in the global financial system.

The IMF launched this report in March 2002, in order "to provide a regular assessment of global financial markets and to identify potential systemic weaknesses that could lead to crises."

Jerome A. Cohen and Yu-Jie Chen explore Taiwan's progress in protecting people's rights.

Robert Pastor, professor and founding director of American University's Center for North American Studies, leads a conversation on the findings of his recent CFR Policy Innovation Memorandum, Shortcut to U.S. Economic Competitiveness: A Seamless North American Market, as part of CFR's State and Local Officials Conference Call series.

The Brazilian government faces a number of challenges and opportunities concerning its economic forecast in the coming years. After peaking at 7.5 percent growth in 2010, Brazil's recent economic slowdown has caused worry that the dream of a new high-growth economy had slipped out of reach.

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Peter Orszag argues that low interest rates and high unemployment make today an ideal time to repair deteriorating U.S. infrastructure.

The fifth summit of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) countries met in Durban, South Africa March 26 and 27, 2013, to discuss "political and economic coordination." They released their fifth summit declaraction, "BRICS and Africa: Partnership for Development, Integration and Industrialisation," which includes plans for a BRICS development bank.

Mexico's new president is pushing through a sweeping package of economic reforms that could help the country emerge as a major economic player, says CFR's Shannon O'Neil.

Eurozone finance ministers gave this statement on March 25, 2013, upon reaching a deal to provide ten billion euros to prevent bankruptcy in the Cyprus's banking system.

Willem H. Buiter, chief economist at Citigroup, discusses break-up risk, sovereign debt restructuring, bank creditor bail-ins, debt mutualization, austerity, and growth in the Eurozone.

Willem H. Buiter, chief economist at Citigroup, discusses break-up risk, sovereign debt restructuring, bank creditor bail-ins, debt mutualization, austerity, and growth in the eurozone.

Willem H. Buiter, chief economist at Citigroup, discusses break-up risk, sovereign debt restructuring, bank creditor bail-ins, debt mutualization, austerity, and growth in the eurozone.

Isobel Coleman writes that while it is widely recognized that food and fuel subsidies in Egypt are expensive and inefficient, Egyptian leaders do not want to touch the political third rail of subsidy reform. But they also realize that the country's fiscal situation is untenable without it. Sooner or later, serious subsidy reform is inevitable, and a well-planned process is preferable to the alternative.

Joshua Kurlantzick explores why the "Beijing Consensus" has attracted so many admirers in recent years in this excerpt from his new book Democracy in Retreat.