Why Have Smaller States Been Hit So Hard by Economic Shocks?

02/03/23 • 19 min

The recently released January edition of this year’s Global Economic Prospects report warns that the global economy is dangerously close to a recession, with worldwide economic output projected to be just 1.7% in 2023. While the outlook for all economies is quite grim, the edition takes a special focus on the plight of 37 small states—countries with a population of 1.5 million or less—that are already vulnerable to shocks stemming from the pandemic, climate change, disruptions to tourism and more.

In this episode of The Development Podcast, we speak with three guests: Dana Vorisek, senior economist and one of the lead report authors of the Global Economic Prospects report; the Hon. Tiofilusi Tiueti, Minister for Finance and Tonga World Bank Governor; and Anna Kay, a female-owned restauranteur in Jamaica, who share their insights and experiences to the impacts of a worsening global economy on already vulnerable states.

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Featured Voices

Dana Vorisek, Senior Economist, World Bank Group. "The main reason small states were really hard hit by COVID was tourism. People were fearful of traveling, but also these countries shut their borders for a long time."
Hon. Tiofilusi Tiueti, Minister for Finance and Tonga World Bank Governor. "The impact of climate change is obviously reflected on the frequency and intensity of a natural disaster, which further impacted our primary sector for economic development."
Anna Kay, a female-owned restauranteur in Jamaica. "We can't get a lot of the things that we used to get, brands that we used to get before, or supplies that we used to get. The biggest thing is the cost of things."

Timestamps

[00:00] Welcome and introduction of the topic

[01:29] Insights from the Global Economics Prospects Report

[03:51] Visions from the Caribbean: The case of Jamaica

[08:18] Visions from the Pacific: The case of Tonga

[13:56] Characteristics, challenges and vulnerabilities of small states

[18:44] Closing and thanks for tuning in!

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Featured Voices

Dana Vorisek, Senior Economist, World Bank Group. "The main reason small states were really hard hit by COVID was tourism. People were fearful of traveling, but also these countries shut their borders for a long time."
Hon. Tiofilusi Tiueti, Minister for Finance and Tonga World Bank Governor. "The impact of climate change is obviously reflected on the frequency and intensity of a natural disaster, which further impacted our primary sector for economic development."
Anna Kay, a female-owned restauranteur in Jamaica. "We can't get a lot of the things that we used to get, brands that we used to get before, or supplies that we used to get. The biggest thing is the cost of things."

Timestamps

[00:00] Welcome and introduction of the topic

[01:29] Insights from the Global Economics Prospects Report

[03:51] Visions from the Caribbean: The case of Jamaica

[08:18] Visions from the Pacific: The case of Tonga

[13:56] Characteristics, challenges and vulnerabilities of small states

[18:44] Closing and thanks for tuning in!

ABOUT THE DEVELOPMENT PODCAST

Tell us what you think of our podcast here >>>. We would love to hear from you!

ABOUT THE WORLD BANK

Previous Episode

2022 in Review: A Year of Uncertainty

The past twelve months have been turbulent for the global economy. Conflict, inflation, food supply crises and the long tail of the Covid-19 pandemic have caused shockwaves across the world. In this episode of The Development Podcast we speak to World Bank Group chief economist Indermit Gill, and take stock of the last twelve months, while looking ahead to 2023. Indermit explains why forecasts at the start of the year were wrong, and why he remains optimistic for the coming year. We also reflect on one of the biggest stories of 2022, food prices. We get an update from Egyptian baker and restaurant owner Dareen Akkad. Listen now!

Tell us what you think of our podcast here >>>. We would love to hear from you!

Featured Voices

Indermit Gill, Chief Economist of the World Bank Group and Senior Vice President for Development Economics: "I think that the last two years will become a case study of how the world forgot Economics 101, and I think it was because of fear, it was because of the disease, it was because of the war, but it was also because of impatience, and I'm hoping that 2023 will not be part of this case study."
Dareen Akkad, Egyptian baker and restaurant owner : "The businesses that survive are those that are able to change and adapt. We've already made plans to create food that is completely locally sourced."

Timestamps

[00:00] Welcome and introduction of the topic

[01:23] Putting 2022 in context

[02:31] What were we expecting 2022 to look like in January?

[03:47] The economic impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine

[05:02] Are we looking at a recession next year that's getting worse?

[06:47] Policy steps being taken

[09:28] Monetary tightening, raising interest rates, subsidies, inflation

[16:07] Stories of people's lives

[17:30] Inflation and food security: Visions from a pizza baker in Cairo

[19:42] Closing and thanks for tuning in!

ABOUT THE DEVELOPMENT PODCAST

Tell us what you think of our podcast here >>>. We would love to hear from you!

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Next Episode

Challenges Without Borders: Confronting Crises Around the World

In this episode of The Development Podcast, we mark one year of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and explore the depth and breadth of fragility, conflict and violence (FCV) around the world. What are the spillover effects of war as we see increased displacement of populations, high energy and food prices, shocks to natural disasters and more? And what is the World Bank Group’s position and long-term strategy on FCV, and how can we begin to tackle some of these challenges we face head on?

Axel Van Trotsenburg, the World Bank’s Managing Director of Operations, the Honorable John Dabi, Deputy Commissioner of South Sudan Commission for Refugees Affairs, Fidel Saad, Save the Children Lebanon’s Food Security, Livelihoods and Social Protection Technical Advisor, and Lara, a Ukrainian refugee living in Oxford, talk to us on these issues and more.

Tell us what you think of our podcast here >>>. We would love to hear from you!

Featured Voices

Axel Van Trotsenburg, the World Bank’s Managing Director of Operations. "The human suffering that we are seeing in many countries affected by fragility, conflict, and violence (FCV) settings are calling out for solidarity."
Honorable John Dabi, Deputy Commissioner of South Sudan Commission for Refugees Affairs. "The whole area is prone to climate change and it's also prone to conflict. So you either become displaced because of the conflict or because of the climate change."
Fidel Saad, Save the Children Lebanon’s Food Security, Livelihoods and Social Protection Technical Advisor. "There's the food security crisis, but there's also the employment crisis. There's an education crisis in Lebanon and we've seen an increased number of cases of child protection, meaning children engaged in labor."
Lara, a Ukrainian refugee. "We didn't know where to move. We knew only that I take my kid, I take my 70-year-old mom and we're crossing the border. Where? We didn't know where."

Timestamps

[00:00] Welcome and introduction of the topic

[01:20] Fragility, conflict, and violence (FCV) settings

[03:50] The case of Lara, a Ukrainian refugee living in Oxford, UK

[08:16] South Sudan: Food security, climate change, conflict, and displacement

[11:22] The case of Lebanon and FCV settings

[14:05] Global overlapping crises and their impact

[15:25] Conflict in fragile settings and middle-income countries

[17:37] The support from the World Bank Group

[21:04] Closure and thanks for tuning!

ABOUT THE DEVELOPMENT PODCAST

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World Bank | The Development Podcast - Why Have Smaller States Been Hit So Hard by Economic Shocks?

Transcript

Raka Banerjee: 00:00

Hello, and welcome to The Development Podcast from the World Bank Group. I'm Raka Banerjee.

Srimathi Sridhar:

And I'm Srimathi Sridhar. Coming up, why are small states facing such low economic growth?

Raka Banerjee:

The latest World Bank Global Economic Prospects Report highlighted the big challenges facing small countries, and their slow recovery from the pandemic. We hear from one of the report authors.

Dana Vo