A country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is defined as the monetary value of all final goods and services produced by a nation’s economy. Even though it has many shortcomings[1], GDP – also expressed in per capita terms or growth rates– is still used as one of the main measures to gauge development and discuss economic performance (see, e.g., Dynan and Sheiner, 2018). But … [Read more...] about What’s in a number? Opening the black box of GDP measurement
Lodewijk Smets
Lodewijk Smets is a Belgian national with a PhD in Applied Economics. After a post-doctoral fellowship at KU Leuven (Belgium), Lodewijk moved to Washington D.C. to work for the World Bank. At the World Bank’s evaluation department, Lodewijk worked on macro-economic evaluations and provided methodological support to evaluation teams. Since December 2017, he has been at the Inter-American Development Bank as Trinidad and Tobago’s Senior Country Economist.
Artificial Intelligence and the Caribbean
We are living through the Fourth Industrial Revolution. It is driven by technological advancements that have the potential to foster innovative growth and benefit development at an unprecedented rate and scope. These technologies include Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), robotics, big data, and 3D printing. Let us focus on AI. As defined by the … [Read more...] about Artificial Intelligence and the Caribbean
Boosting Trinidad’s Private Sector Engine: International experiences from across the Americas
According to the latest Global Competitiveness Report, Trinidad and Tobago ranks 83rd out of 137 countries. Climbing the ranks and increasing the competitiveness of the country could lead to several benefits. It may stimulate economic diversification and non-energy exports, correct external imbalances, generate employment, and spur innovation. In order to become more … [Read more...] about Boosting Trinidad’s Private Sector Engine: International experiences from across the Americas