Malaysia has grown and changed a great deal since it was formed on 16 September 1963. It was then seen as an unlikely nation hastily put together as a federation of British controlled territories in the region. Brunei's refusal to join at the eleventh hour and Singapore's secession before its second birthday only seemed to confirm such doubts.Yet, it has not only survived, but even thrived, often cited as a developing country worthy of emulation. Ruled by the same ruling coalition since the mid-1950s, it has been tempting to emphasize continuities, and there certainly have been many.Looking back at its last half century, this volume first considers changes in development policy in response to national as well as international developments. The remaining three parts consider how public policy has been influenced by and has, in turn, influenced economic distribution, public finance and economic federalism.Besides the familiar focus on ethnic disparities, regional and other distribution issues are considered. The discussion of government taxation as well as spending also focuses on distribution implications. Although constitutionally a federation, Malaysia has been more centralized than most federal states.The way forward requires greater sensitivity to the complex political economy of Malaysia's unlikely, but nonetheless resilient federation and ruling coalition.This book is published and distributed worldwide by World Scientific Publishing Co Pte Ltd except Malaysia.

The 1944 Bretton Woods conference created new institutions for international economic governance. Though flawed, the system led to a golden age in postwar reconstruction, sustained economic growth, job creation, and postcolonial development. Yet financial liberalization since the 1970s has involved deregulation and globalization, which have exacerbated instability, rather than sustained growth. In addition, the failure of Bretton Woods to provide a reserve currency enabled the dollar to fill the void, which has contributed to periodic, massive U.S. trade deficits.

Our latest global financial crisis, in which all these weaknesses played a part, underscores how urgently we must reform the international financial system. Prepared for the G24 research program, a consortium of developing countries focused on financial issues, this volume argues that such reforms must be developmental. Chapters review historical trends in global liquidity, financial flows to emerging markets, and the food crisis, identifying the systemic flaws that contributed to the recent downturn. They challenge the effectiveness of recent policy and suggest criteria for regulatory reform, keeping in mind the different circumstances, capacities, and capabilities of various economies. Essays follow ongoing revisions in international banking standards, the improved management of international capital flows, the critical role of the World Trade Organization in liberalizing and globalizing financial services, and the need for international tax cooperation. They also propose new global banking and reserve currency arrangements.

In November 2014, representatives from over 170 governments, together with leaders of inter-governmental organizations and civil society - including non-governmental organizations, researchers, the private sector, and consumer representatives - converged in Rome for the Second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2). ICN2 was organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to mobilize and unite the international community for the protracted struggle against malnutrition. The conference and its preparatory process provided a forum in which the world community, led by governments, affirmed its shared commitment to eradicating malnutrition by adopting the Rome Declaration and reaching agreement on a comprehensive, harmonized Framework for Action. Ending Malnutrition: From Commitment to Action aims to make available the insights and judgments that emerged from ICN2 to practitioners across the world. It begins with a review of current evidence on the prevalence and incidence of malnutrition across the globe. It then presents analyses of the most salient policy issues to be confronted in a concerted global effort to end malnutrition: strengthening food systems as the core of a sustainable nutrition strategy; promoting social protection to address underlying inequities as well as immediate needs that contribute to malnutrition; using fortification and supplementation, especially, to address micronutrient deficiencies; and ensuring improved access to water and sanitation for an effective nutrition strategy. A concluding chapter focuses on the indispensable role that multilateral institutions can play in accelerating and sustaining global momentum on nutrition, and to secure a place for nutrition at the forefront of the post-2015 sustainable development agenda. Throughout, the emphasis is on practical steps that can be taken by governments and their partners to end malnutrition in all its forms.

This book, co-published with the UN's Dept of Economic and Social Affairs, offers a critical appraisal of the conventional measures and analysis of poverty as well as of poverty reduction policies. It is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. Despite greater efforts in reducing poverty since the early 1980s, poverty remains stubbornly high in many parts of the world. This collection argues that the mainstream perspectives on poverty and deprivation have contributed to considerable distortion and misunderstanding and that is not unrelated to ineffectual policy perscriptions. In particular it highlights the World Bank's dollar-a-day measure of poverty and exposes the inadequacies of Bretton Woods-inspired poverty reduction programmes.

In this endnote address delivered at the 11th General Assembly of CODESRIA, held in Maputo in 2005, Sundaram notes that over three decades of economic stagnation, contraction and increased poverty have taken a huge toll on Africa's economic, social and political fabric; and pro-active efforts are urgently required in order to build new capacities and capabilities for development. He argues that much of the ostensible conventional wisdom regarding African development and poverty is often both erroneous and harmful; and calls for greater 'policy space' for African governments to choose or design their own development strategies, as well as implement more appropriate development policies. (This dual language edition is in both English and French).