Part of our "behind the scenes" series of posts for the 2020 flagship publication From Structures to Services: The Path to Better Infrastructure in Latin America and the Caribbean When we think about infrastructure’s contribution to the region's economies, we look at the direct effects’ investment in bridges, airports, and power grids have on growth. A new highway can … [Read more...] about How We Measure the Productivity and Efficiency Gains of Improving Infrastructure Services
Eduardo Cavallo
Eduardo Cavallo is Principal Economist at the Research Department of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in Washington DC. Prior to joining the IDB, Eduardo was a Vice-President and Senior Latin American Economist for Goldman Sachs in New York. Eduardo had already worked at the IDB as a Research Economist between 2006 and 2010. Before that he served as a research fellow at the Center for International Development (CID), a visiting scholar at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, and a member of the faculty at the Kennedy School of Government's Summer Program. In Argentina he co-founded Fundación Grupo Innova. Eduardo’s research interests are in the fields of international finance and macroeconomics with a focus on Latin America. He has published in several academic journals, and is the co-editor of the books “Building Opportunities for Growth in a Challenging World” (IDB, 2019); “A Mandate to Grow” (IDB, 2018); “Saving for Development: how Latin America and the Caribbean can save more and better” (Palgrave, 2016) and “Dealing with an International Credit Crunch: Policy Responses to Sudden Stops in Latin America” (IDB, 2009). He holds a Ph.D. in Public Policy and an MPP from Harvard University, and a B.A. in Economics from Universidad de San Andres (UdeSA) in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
From Structures to Services: A New Vision for Infrastructure
Over the last 15 years, Latin America and the Caribbean has made substantial progress in expanding the reach of its infrastructure. Tens of millions of people were connected to clean water grids for the first time, and access to electricity became nearly universal, with low-income and peri-urban areas able to experience the novel pleasure of turning on the lights or running a … [Read more...] about From Structures to Services: A New Vision for Infrastructure
What Experiences with Natural Disasters Can Teach about Recovering from the Pandemic
Natural disasters are different from pandemics. They cause death, displacement, and destruction of physical capital, and unlike a pandemic, their effects are brief and confined to the areas affected. The literature shows that natural disasters impact growth in the short term. But how quickly do countries recover? The outcomes are surprising, and they show how important social … [Read more...] about What Experiences with Natural Disasters Can Teach about Recovering from the Pandemic
Baker or Brady: Lessons of Past Financial Crises for the Pandemic Recovery
The Covid-19 pandemic is different both in nature and in magnitude from the financial crises that have afflicted the region repeatedly in the past. However, the experience of previous crises can provide lessons to help make the recovery from the pandemic more vigorous. Specifically, we should learn from the successes of the Brady Plan of the 1990s, while avoiding the errors of … [Read more...] about Baker or Brady: Lessons of Past Financial Crises for the Pandemic Recovery
Climate Change is a Threat to Economic Growth and to Reducing Income Inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean
A silver lining that has emerged from the Covid-19 pandemic is that CO2 emissions have decreased dramatically during the lockdowns. But that this is not necessarily good news for climate change. Emission levels are likely to return to previous levels once the lockdowns are lifted because there have not been any structural changes in climate-related policies that will lock in … [Read more...] about Climate Change is a Threat to Economic Growth and to Reducing Income Inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean