Finance and Development, December 2021

DECEMBER 2021

Pandemic economics P.10

Going the last mile P.17

Measuring the

FINANCE AND DEVELOPMENTessence of the good life P.32

Safeguarding

the World's Health and Well-being

I N T E R N A T I O N A L M O N E T A R Y F U N D

Contents

The COVID-19 crisis has made it clear that pandemic policy is economic

4 policy.

SAFEGUARDING HEALTH AND WELL-BEING

4 Rethinking Multilateralism for a Pandemic Era

Incremental changes to existing mechanisms have failed; a fundamental reset is needed

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, and Lawrence H. Summers

10 Pandemic Economics

A broad-based economic recovery requires an end to the pandemic

Ruchir Agarwal and Gita Gopinath

12 Accelerating Vaccinations

Expanded production and more money for research will get shots into arms faster

Arthur Baker, Esha Chaudhuri, and Michael Kremer

17 Going the Last Mile

Improving sub-Saharan Africa's logistics could be the key to successful vaccine delivery

Eugene Bempong Nyantakyi and Jonathan Munemo

20 Reflections on a Healthy Society

Six thinkers explore lessons learned from the pandemic to cultivate a more resilient world Michelle Bachelet, Jeffrey Sachs, K.K. Shailaja, Christian Happi, Kate Soper, and María del Rocío Sáenz

24 Financing Health Systems for the Future

We must view universal health coverage as a public policy goal and an investment Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus

26 A Life Well Lived

Three countries provide lessons for improving health and promoting happiness

Analisa R. Bala, Adam Behsudi, and Anna Jaquiery

32 Measuring National Well-Being

The search continues for a better gauge of prosperity than GDP alone

Daniel Benjamin, Kristen Cooper, Ori Heffetz, and Miles Kimball

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FINANCE & DEVELOPMENT

A Quarterly Publication of the International Monetary Fund December 2021 | Volume 58 | Number 4

DEPARTMENTS

54

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE

37 Listening to Social Silence

Anthropology is vital for building back better Gillian Tett

46 Toward Better Pandemic Preparedness

Infectious disease outbreaks are inevitable-but we can mitigate their effects by investing in prevention Jay Patel and Devi Sridhar

50 Pandemic Lessons

Ruchir Agarwal interviews the Global Fund's Peter Sands on why economists should pay more attention to global health

52 A New Public Health Order for Africa

Regional solutions are what we

need to get us through the next pandemic John Nkengasong

54 Dementia Storm on the Horizon

The rising incidence of dementia around the world calls for global collaboration and decisive financing

Nathaniel Counts, Arindam Nandi, Benjamin Seligman, and Daniel Tortorice

58 The African Century

The right actions today will ensure that sub-Saharan Africa thrives in a post-COVID world Abebe Aemro Selassie

64 Quantum Computing's Possibilities and Perils

Quantum computers could crack the cryptography that underpins financial stability

José Deodoro, Michael Gorbanyov, Majid Malaika, and Tahsin Saadi Sedik

40 People in Economics

Data-Driven

Chris Wellisz profiles MIT's Amy Finkelstein, who tests economic models with large data sets

44 Picture This

The Journey of the COVID-19 Vaccine

The development of COVID-19 vaccines has been miraculous, but the path to inoculating the world presents many obstacles

Andrew Stanley

62 Back to Basics

What Are Global Public Goods?

Global institutions must coordinate to preserve the goods that benefit us all

Moya Chin

67 Book Reviews

Tumultuous Times: Central Banking in an Era of Crisis, Masaaki Shirakawa

The Future of Money: How the Digital Revolution Is Transforming Currencies and Finance, Eswar S. Prasad

Where Credit Is Due: How Africa's Debt Can Be a Benefit, Not a Burden, Gregory Smith

40

December 2021 | FINANCE & DEVELOPMENT 1

EDITOR'S LETTER

The Real

Wealth

JUST AS GOOD HEALTH-mental and physical-is fundamental to individual well-being, public health is fundamental to stable, cohesive societies. That is the lesson we must take from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The inextricable link between human and economic health is another lesson. The pandemic plunged the world into the deepest economic contraction in generations, slowing progress on education, poverty eradication, and inclusive development. Overcoming the pandemic is a prerequisite to restoring jobs, livelihoods, and economic growth, say the IMF's Gita Gopinath and Ruchir Agarwal. This makes it critical for global economic and financial stability, and therefore of fundamental importance to the IMF.

That is why we focus this issue of F&D on global health and well-being. Our authors explore future global health threats and countries' vulnerabilities to them. They examine gaps in health care capacities within nations and the global health security system. And they consider the role of prudent public policy and responsible politics in health care.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, and Larry Summers call for rethinking international collaboration, with additional investments of at least $15 billion a year to avert future pandemics. Rather than viewing support for global health security as "aid for other nations," they suggest treating it as a strategic investment that benefits every nation-rich or poor. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus underscores the need for public financing to provide universal health care. Michael Kremer and coauthors offer ideas to speed vaccinations in the next pandemic, including investments in manufacturing capacity and supply chains and research in areas with high social value. In a special feature, Miles Kimball and colleagues discuss their development of an index of national well-being to complement GDP.

The depth of the pandemic's shock-and the lessons from it-will perhaps spur individual countries and the international community to treat health as a public policy priority that will make for happier and more productive societies. As Mahatma Gandhi said, "Health is the real wealth…"

GITA BHATT, editor-in-chief

FINANCE & DEVELOPMENT

A Quarterly Publication of the

International Monetary Fund

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF:

Gita Bhatt

MANAGING EDITOR:

Maureen Burke

DEPUTY MANAGING EDITOR:

Peter Walker

SENIOR EDITORS:

Analisa Bala

Adam Behsudi

ASSISTANT EDITOR:

Andrew Stanley

ONLINE EDITOR:

Lijun Li

PRODUCTION MANAGER:

Melinda Weir

COPY EDITOR:

Lucy Morales

ADVISORS TO THE EDITOR:
Bernardin Akitoby	Hamid Faruqee
Celine Allard	Davide Furceri
Steven Barnett	Deniz Igan
Nicoletta Batini	Kenneth Kang
Helge Berger	Subir Lall
S. Pelin Berkman	Raphael Lam
Paul Cashin	Christian Mumssen
Martin Čihák	Papa N'Diaye
Alfredo Cuevas	Mahvash Qureshi
Era Dabla-Norris	Uma Ramakrishnan
Mame Astou Diouf	Daria Zakharova
Rupa Duttagupta

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Finance & Development is published quarterly by the International Monetary Fund, 700 19th Street NW, Washington, DC 20431, in English, Arabic, Chinese, French,

DECEMBER 2021

Pandemic economics P.10

Going the last mile P.17

Measuring the

FINANCE AND DEVELOPMENTessence of the good life P.32

Safeguarding

the World's Health and Well-being

I N T E R N A T I O N A L M O N E T A R Y F U N D

ON THE COVER

Our December 2021 cover features the original artwork "Heal" by Bahamian artist Ben Ferguson Jr. Inspired by traditional "bush medicine" and the healing properties of nature, Ferguson says he portrayed the mind "in a state of achieving wholeness, healing, and a sense of well-being."

Russian, and Spanish. English edition ISSN 0145-1707

2 FINANCE & DEVELOPMENT | December 2021

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