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World Economic and Social Survey (WESS)
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World Economic and Social Survey 2018
Author: United NationsLanguage: EnglishPublication Date: October 2018More LessThis publication reviews the advances in frontier technologies — including automation, robotics, renewable energy technologies, electric vehicles, biotechnologies and artificial intelligence — and analyzes their economic, social and environmental impact. These technologies present immense potentials for the 2030 Agenda, fostering growth, prosperity and environmental sustainability. They also pose significant risks of unemployment, underemployment and rising income and wealth inequality and raise new ethical and moral concerns. The Survey identifies policy measures at national levels with the capacity to both maximize the potential of these technologies and mitigate their risks, thereby striking a balance among economic efficiency, equity and ethical considerations.
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World Economic and Social Survey 2017
Author: United NationsLanguage: EnglishPublication Date: July 2017More LessThe aim of WESS 2017 is to document the intellectual influence of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) through its flagship publication, World Economic and Social Survey (WESS) on its 70th Anniversary. First published in 1948, the Survey is the oldest continuous post-World War II publication of its kind that records and analyses the performance of the global economy and social development trends as well as offers relevant policy recommendations. WESS 2017 will highlight how well the Survey tracked global economic and social conditions, and how its analysis influenced and were influenced by the prevailing discourse during the past seven decades. It will also critically reflect on its policy recommendations and their influence on actual policy-making and the shaping of the world economy. Particular attention will be given to reflect on the lessons that a historical review of the policy analysis done by the Survey would provide for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
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World Economic and Social Survey 2016
Language: EnglishPublication Date: August 2016More LessThis edition of the World Economic and Social Survey contributes to the debate on the implementation challenges of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In addressing the specific challenge of building resilience to climate change, the Survey focuses attention on the population groups and communities that are disproportionately affected by climate hazards. It argues that, in the absence of transformative policies which coherently address the economic, social and environmental dimensions of development, building climate resilience will remain elusive and poverty and inequalities will worsen. To the extent that the differential impact of climate hazards on people and communities is determined largely by the prevalence of multiple inequalities in respect of the access to resources and opportunities, policies aimed at building climate resilience provide an opportunity to address the structural determinants of poverty and inequality in their multiple dimensions.
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World Economic and Social Survey 2014/2015
Author: United NationsLanguage: EnglishPublication Date: February 2016More LessThe year 2015 was one of global action concerning the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and other challenges. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development along with a set of new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will apply universally to all countries. As the MDG experience shows, setting ambitious goals is the first step; achieving them requires concrete actions. This publication reviews economic, social and environmental policies implemented at the national level and the institutional aspects that enabled them, bringing about significant progress towards achieving the MDGs. The Survey draws a set of policy lessons that States will find helpful in formulating strategies and policies for implementing the 2030 Agenda.
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World economic and social survey 2013
Author: United NationsLanguage: EnglishPublication Date: June 2013More LessThe 2015 deadline to meet the targets of the Millennium Development Goals is fast approaching. There has been significant progress, but it is uneven. Meanwhile the context within which development goals are pursued has become much more challenging, visible in the recent food, fuel and financial crisis. Environmental degradation, demographic changes and persistent inequalities further threaten progress. This publication will discuss new directions and policies at the national and international level to achieve transformative change and sustainable development post-2015.
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World Economic and Social Survey 2009
Author: United NationsLanguage: EnglishPublication Date: February 2013More LessThe separation in practice of climate change and development agendas has distorted the global debate on the two biggest policy challenges facing the international community. According to the Survey, an integrated approach based on the concept of sustainable development is urgently needed. It argues that mitigation and adaptation can move forward effectively only if they are part of a consistent development strategy built around a massive investment-led transformation along low-emissions, high-growth paths. The Survey also contends that a critical role must be played by developmental States able to mobilize public finance and build appropriate technological capacity.
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World Economic and Social Survey 2012
Language: EnglishPublication Date: June 2012More LessThe World Economic and Social Survey (WESS) is a yearly publication that provides objective analysis of pressing long-term social and economic development issues, and discusses the positive and negative impact of corresponding policies. Scholars, policymakers, development thinkers and practitioners, as well as United Nations staff members have come together to develop the main messages for this year’s focus – Innovative Sources of Development Finance. This publication touches on topics such as conventional proposals of innovative international financing, existing mechanisms of innovative financing for development, and the allocation process, as well as the relation of international distribution mechanisms to development objectives.
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World Economic and Social Survey 2011
Language: EnglishPublication Date: July 2011More LessThis survey explains why the Great Green Technological Transformation will have to be fully realized in developing countries if they are to achieve food security and rural development, minimize the damage from natural hazards and extreme disasters partly induced by climate change, and transform their economies to beat destitution and create productive jobs. Avoiding the climate change tipping point will require fundamental shifts in existing technologies to transform manufacturing, agriculture, living arrangements and infrastructure and thereby reduce greenhouse gas emissions, make more efficient use of natural resources and derivatives, create less waste, preserve biodiversity and reduce social disparities. The survey assesses options and policies to facilitate a new technological revolution, and the challenges societies face in achieving sustainable development and poverty reduction.
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World Economic and Social Survey 2010
Language: EnglishPublication Date: July 2010More LessThe Survey points out promising directions for reform, including strengthening government capacities for formulating and implementing national development strategies; doing more to ensure that official development assistance is aligned with national priorities; strengthening the international trade and financial systems so that countries with limited capabilities can successfully integrate into the global economy; creating new mechanisms for dealing with deficiencies, such as specialized multilateral frameworks through which to govern international migration and labour mobility, international financial regulation, multinational corporations and global value chains regulation, as well as sovereign debt workouts. Most importantly, the Survey highlights the need for a strong mechanism for global economic coordination which establishes coherence across all areas of global economic governance.
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World Economic and Social Survey 2008
Author: United NationsLanguage: EnglishPublication Date: July 2008More LessAccording to the Survey, economic insecurity arises from the exposure of individuals, communities and countries to adverse events, and from their inability to cope with and recover from the downside losses. Local concerns have been compounded by new global threats as unregulated markets and climate change. The Survey offers a different approach with a strong “social contract” and more integrated and pragmatic economic and social policy. It calls for more active policy responses to help communities better manage these new risks, increased investment in preventing threatening events from emerging and more concerted efforts to strengthen the underlying social contracts which are, in the end, the real basis of a more secure, stable and just future.
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World Economic and Social Survey 2007
Author: United NationsLanguage: EnglishPublication Date: June 2007More LessThe World Economic and Social Survey 2007 analyses the challenges and opportunities associated with ageing populations and aims to facilitate discussions in furthering the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing which focuses on three sets of priorities: older people and development; advancing health and well-being into old age; and enabling and supportive environments for older persons. The Survey underscores the need to fully recognize and better harness the productive and social contributions to societies that older persons can make but are, in many instances, prevented from making.
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World Economic and Social Survey 2006
Author: United NationsLanguage: EnglishPublication Date: October 2006More LessThe World Economic and Social Survey provides objective analysis of pressing long-term social and economic development issues, and discusses the positive and negative impact of corresponding policies. The analyses are supported by analytical research and data included in the annex. According to the 2006 edition of the Survey, in the industrialized world, the income level over the last five decades has grown steadily while it has failed to do so in many developing countries, thereby causing a rise in already high world inequality.
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World Economic and Social Survey 2005
Author: United NationsLanguage: EnglishPublication Date: October 2006More LessThe World Economic and Social Survey 2005 focuses on the Monterrey Consensus as the current framework for international cooperation for development. The report examines the correspondingly broad agenda for action that was set out in the Consensus, recognizing numerous accomplishments to date and draws attention to the further actions—in the financing and trade areas—that need to be undertaken in the years ahead to achieve both the Millennium Development Goals, as well as the broader United Nations Development Agenda.
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World Economic and Social Survey 2003
Author: United NationsLanguage: EnglishPublication Date: October 2006More LessThe World Economic and Social Survey is the United Nations annual analysis of current developments in the world economy and emerging policy issues. It contains forecast of short-term global and regional economic trends and reviews major developments in international trade. Part One of this year’s Survey revolves around the economic recovery that is underway in some developed market economies and some developing countries. Part Two explores current social issues that are interlinked with economic development. Special attention is given to public-private cooperation in the light of drastic transformation of the role of the government. The Survey includes statistical tables, which give standardized data on international trade and finance, incorporating current data and forecasts. It is essential for decision makers in government and business, and provides valuable information to all interested in the trends of global economy.
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World Economic and Social Survey 2002
Author: United NationsLanguage: EnglishPublication Date: October 2006More LessPart I. State of the World Economy: In the second half of 2002, the world economy stands at a delicate juncture. After the weakest performance in a decade for the year as a whole, global economic recovery is under way. However, neither the strength, nor the breadth, nor the durability of the recovery is assured. Part II. Private-Public Interaction in Achieving Society’s Goals: examines selected aspects of the changing nature of the interaction between the public and private sectors in producing some of the goods and services that societies as a whole may desire as part of their overall development.
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World Economic and Social Survey 2004
Author: United NationsLanguage: EnglishPublication Date: April 2004More LessThe 2004 edition of the World Economic and Social Survey is divided into two parts. The first part discusses the state of the world economy in 2004 and the outlook for 2005. It includes a review of developments in international trade and finance and an overview of the situation in the world’s economies as of mid-2004 and their prospects for 2005. Meanwhile, the second part addresses international migration. It examines historical and recent surges in migration, policies towards migration, its economic and social effects, the question of refugees and the state of international cooperation regarding migration.
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World Economic and Social Survey 2001
Author: United NationsLanguage: EnglishPublication Date: August 2001More LessPart one. State of the World Economy: chronicles how the very positive developments in output and international trade, with reasonably buoyant levels of international finance for emerging markets for the first half of 2000, turned into retrenchment. The ongoing downturn in the business cycle in developed countries has been unusual in a number of respects when contrasted with previous downturns in the post-war period. Part two. A Globalizing World: Risks, Vulnerability and Opportunity: looks at some examples of vulnerability in the context of globalization, with the discussions focusing on how the liberalization of financial markets can bring benefits to individual countries; how trade shocks can be absorbed and whether the risk of such shocks reduces the potential gains from trade; how three small landlocked transition economies survived the shocks arising from the collapse of the centrally planned system; and how a country can cope with a recurrent and, to some extent predictable, natural disaster, and flooding. The insights from these chapters should help the international community as it confronts the issues of vulnerability and globalization.
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World Economic and Social Survey 2000
Author: United NationsLanguage: EnglishPublication Date: April 2000More LessPart one. State of the World Economy: chronicles a remarkable recovery in the world economy after the crisis years 1997-1999. Although the volume of international financial flows has not returned to its pre-crisis level, international financial markets are again displaying a sense of calm. International trade has also largely recovered from the setback it suffered following the financial crises. Part two. Escaping the Poverty Trap: identifies a number of critical steps for the poorer countries to break out of their “poverty trap” and find a path to sustained and sustainable development. The objective of part two is to identify some of the actions that countries can take to start a period of rapid and sustained growth that would allow living standards to increase appreciably over a relatively short period of time.
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World Economic and Social Survey 1999
Author: United NationsLanguage: EnglishPublication Date: September 1999More LessPart one. State of the World Economy: provides a chronicle of how large parts of the world economy were sent reeling in the past two years by the fragility of financial systems and their international connectedness. On the whole, the world economy seems to have hit bottom and most of the affected countries are moving towards recovery. Part two. Financial Development in the Globalizing World: serves as a contribution to the international discussion on “financing for development”. It seeks to give a perspective on the major changes that have been taking place in recent decades in the banking and financial systems of developed, developing and transition economies.
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World Economic and Social Survey 1998
Author: United NationsLanguage: EnglishPublication Date: July 1998More LessAuthoritative and reliable, the 1998 World Economic and Social Survey offers unique insight and commentary on current trends and policies in the world economy. Its forecasts and lucid descriptions make it an essential tool for those involved in international trade and finance. This new edition provides a comprehensive review of macro-economic developments in 1997 and the outlook for 1998 in developed, developing and transition economies. It also surveys major trends in international trade and financial flows; the net transfer of financial resources; implications of the European Union agreement to start monetary union in 1999; and emerging lessons from the international treatment of the Asian currency crisis. This essential Survey includes detailed statistical tables, incorporating current data and forecasts.
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