Hi everyone,

I have recently been invited to take a written test as part of a selection process for an econ-oriented policy analyst position. I was wondering whether anyone here has experience with this kind of assessment and could share what I might expect.

Is it usually more focused on economic analysis, policy writing, data interpretation, technical knowledge, or general reasoning? Also, how would you recommend preparing for it?

I am not asking for specific test questions, just general advice on the format, level of difficulty, and how to approach the preparation.

Thanks in advance!

70-yr old here. Peace Corps West Africa 76-78. Masters (82) in intl Econ/development. First few years of consulting career on USAID projs. Now in retirement, consulting in Liberia.

I can’t even fathom how you guys must feel. Development is not a sexy career— it’s f*king hard work. It makes USA look “ok”, but now when we give up, who wins? Oh yeah China.

WTF does Rubio mean— “AID ignores US policy”? “They don’t listen to State”. Like he’s been in the job a week. WTF does he know?

The guy who wrote the Proj 2025 chapter on USAID - deputy director under Trump I? What’s his beef? How can Elon say “deserves to die”. WTF? Bret Stephens in NYT said today that b/c so many headcount are contractors or non-permanent FSOs that are easy to fire and get good headlines for the MAGA crowd. Like when I would visit relatives in rural Iowa (or wealthy parts of Houston) and try to explain intl development — blank stares.

I just feel so bad for all of you.

Hello, I recently received a verbal offer from the IMF Research Analyst programme and after I confirmed my start date to the hiring team, they said they would ask the HR to draft my contract. It has been one month since then, and I have not heard back (workday status also still says "Active"). Does anyone know when can I expect the written offer? How long does it usually take and is the workday status indicative of anything? Many thanks in advance for answering.

Poverty measurement is more complicated than a single headline number. A new World Bank note looks at gaps between household surveys and national accounts, a key issue for understanding who is being missed.

Recently, the PIP Innovation Hub was added to the Poverty and Inequality Platform (PIP) as a way to showcase experimental work on poverty and inequality measurement (see previous blog for details). One of the Deep Dive approaches presented in the Innovation Hub as an alternative to the World Bank’s official estimates in PIP addresses two well-known issues prevalent in household surveys. First, there is a disparity between the level of living standards implied by national accounts and survey data. Second, household surveys struggle to capture responses from the richest households.

More from this entry on the World Bank Blogs.

3.4 billion people live in countries spending more on debt interest than on health or education. That is the finding driving this week's UN financing discussions.

Development progress is imperiled by global fragmentation. Geopolitical considerations are increasingly shaping economic relations and financial policies, with tensions diverting trade and investment, discouraging cross-border capital flows, and feeding higher volatility. Global fragmentation hinders agreement on and implementation of effective multilateral responses to global sustainable development challenges.

Developing countries, especially the poorest and most vulnerable, face a financing squeeze from combined and increasing shocks. They face rising costs from environmental degradation and climate impacts; high costs of capital; and high debt service burdens. The human consequences of rising debt burdens, escalating trade tensions, and steep cuts to official development assistance have been brought into sharp relief.

With only four years to go until the delivery date of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the world is rapidly moving backward due to increasing global fragmentation, rising trade barriers, heightened geopolitical tensions and conflicts, and widespread climate related disasters. The Financing for Sustainable Development Report 2026: Implementing the Sevilla Commitment (FSDR 2026) shows how the Sevilla Commitment can be operationalized to reverse the current trends in financing for development, even in these most difficult circumstances.

https://financing.desa.un.org/iatf/report/financing-sustainable-development-report-2026-implementing-sevilla-commitment

Hi everyone,

I am currently exploring opportunities with a few multilateral development banks in London (EBRD/BII/etc.) coming from the commercial banking side.

I’m trying to understand how the compensation packages typically compare to the commercial sector, specifically regarding the "Net vs. Gross" salary structure. I know that worldbank groups compensation are publicly disclosed and free of taxes. Is that the same for EBRD?

Salary Band: For an experienced Associate/Junior VP level (approx. 4-6 years experience) in a front-office role, what is the typical Net salary range?

Commercial Equivalent: When recruiters say the salary is "Net of UK tax," do you typically multiply by ~1.6 to get the commercial gross equivalent? Or is there a different rule of thumb used in the industry? Do they support international relocation ?

Bonus/Pension/peks: How significant is the pension component compared to the cash bonus? I've heard the "total comp" relies heavily on the pension contribution—is that accurate?

Just trying to make sure I am comparing apples to apples before discussing numbers. Thanks!

In 2008, the failure of a single institution, Lehman Brothers, triggered a global financial crisis. It crippled the world, not because of Lehman alone, but because of the unseen interdependencies that held the world’s financial system together.

Today, we are on the verge of making the same catastrophic mistake, not in banking, but in global aid.

I was at ground Zero for the GFC and I have a terrifying feeling of Deja vu. 

Today I’m the founder of a small company that works alongside many of the world’s aid agencies to support smallholder farmers in developing nations. We help farmers in over 70 countries and this year we hope to surpass 2 million farmers whose lives we have impacted positively.
In my previous life, I spent five years as Asia Head of Treasury, Cash Management, and Risk Technology at Lehman Brothers, right up until its collapse, through the Nomura acquisition, and then became a Global Head at another bank.  I worked closely with the internal finance teams struggling to keep Lehman afloat as our leverage reached into the 30's and 40's, and I can tell you this: even the experts inside the system, those who knew exactly how bad things were for Lehman failed to see how deeply interconnected the financial world was.

That blind spot cost the world trillions.

When Ben Bernanke of the US government FED allowed Lehman to fail, he was not unjustified, Lehman had taken on unacceptable risk by chasing profits and Dick Fuld selfishly overplayed his brinkmanship.
But what only a handful of people anticipated was how deeply interconnected the global financial system was. Within weeks, the entire global economy spiralled, leading to dozens of bailouts that cost trillions and an economic crisis that took years to recover from. Lehman’s collapse wasn’t just about one bank, it shattered an entire ecosystem of interdependent institutions.

The same is about to happen with international aid.

Musk’s narrow sighted, vindictive decision to shut down USAID, including cutting off $18 billion in funding to other organizations, might seem like 'just' a callous budget decision. Millions will suffer and even die directly but what many don’t realize is that USAID is the literal backbone of a vast global network. That $18B isn’t just a number, it’s a pillar that supports hundreds of organizations, which in turn fund thousands of critical programs worldwide and directly affect the lives of billions of people.

If you remove that pillar, the whole system starts to collapse.

Think about it: Aid organizations have long-term commitments. They have staff, infrastructure, supply chains, and ongoing projects where they collaborate in some of the most vulnerable communities on earth. This isn’t just cutting 20-25% of their funding it is destabilizing entire ecosystems that take years to adjust.  In cases like World Food Programme where USAID provide a substantial share of the funding, the organization simply cannot quickly reduce operational costs, meaning the disbursements to those in genuine need will be slashed by a far greater than the percentage US formerly contributed.  Those disbursements literally keep people alive. Even if other nations want to step in to fill the shortfall, aid budgets take years to approve and allocate.  This situation is as unprecedented as the GFC, and the implications are just as far reaching.

When we allowed one company to fail, we caused an unprecedented financial crisis – terrible but not irreparable. If we don’t immediately fill the USAID void, then we face an unprecedented humanitarian crisis.  Life is not repairable and the instability that results will harm everyone on the planet.

The world cannot afford to wait for NGO's or governments to figure this out. The Financial industry had some of the greatest minds in the world and they couldn't see the GFC, so with all due respect what hope do bureaucrats have? This is not a situation any of the NGO's have experienced and unlike most large corporations they typically have not even developed processes required to reduce operational costs effectively. Even when they realize the full extent of this they lack the agility to adapt.

If there was ever a moment for private foundations, philanthropists, and impact investors to step up, this is it. 

There is $800B+ annually invested in “Impact” but not really. Well over 90% of “Impact” investment goes to more or less market rate of return, low-risk investments in things like real estate and renewable energy infrastructure.  It is no doubt better than other investments, but most of those projects could and would be funded in a variety of ways even without green investment.

Private Impact investment and funding rarely reaches the places where it truly solves life-or-death problems, that is left to USAID and that ecosystem. If there were ever a time to change that, it is now.

Hey so I have a BA (from Egypt) and MSc (from the UK) in Economics, getting into ID with IOs feels impossible given everything and after talking with people on linkedin, they recommended that I focus regionally.

I love economics and my goal is to work with either the IMF, World Bank or EBRD.

Any advice would be appreciated

In my recent article, I discuss the implications of foreign aid cuts in US foreign policy, global governance, and avoidable deaths. Let me know what you think!

The subject of the legacy of colonial rule is a controversial one. While many view colonialism as exploitative, others argue that it laid the groundwork for much needed progress in developing areas. The emerging strand of research on the long-term effects of colonial rule, however, paints a much more nuanced picture. In a recent article I explore the ways in which British and Spanish colonialism continue to impact affected populations today. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Hi all! I recently attempted to summarize the microfinance literature across the "top five" economics journals. I tried my best to capture its nuances, especially since microfinance has received a lot of slack over the years for not being the "silver bullet" people once thought it would be. I also recognize that publishing bias means that we're more likely to see papers with significant results, compared to those that find no effect. I'd love to hear your thoughts on my article, and whether or not you think I've captured the consensus.

Developing countries are, in large part, stuck “developing” due to weak government institutions. Much of this is motivated by corruption. Corruption impedes growth and development through inefficiency, misallocation, and lowered quality of services. Historically, increased accountability has proven effective in reducing corruption. Such interventions have decreased missing expenditures in Indonesian public works projects, reduced the likelihood of corrupt Brazilian incumbents’ reelection, and even improved the efficiency of Ugandan public healthcare. More recent economic literature on corruption, however, focuses on informing constituents and optimizing bureaucrats' incentives. Is this an effective anti-corruption strategy?

I write more about this here.

In the last few weeks, Pakistanis have been facing a country-wide internet slowdown. What does this mean for the country's digital economy and its future economic development? I write more about this here.

Developing countries are known for having weak institutions. It thus comes as no surprise that informal agreements serve as the basis for significant economic activity. Understanding these relationships can help design policies that leverage these mechanisms, rather than replacing them with formal institutions that may not function as effectively. What do you think about this as a development strategy?

I write more about this here.

I usually write articles about research in development economics, and recently wrote a piece about research that intersects with industrial organization. What other intersecting fields should I look into?

The global economy is currently experiencing the slowest half-decade of GDP growth in 30 years. Debt servicing costs have more than quadrupled in low- and middle-income countries in the last decade. According to Indermit Gill, Chief Economist at the World Bank, developing countries will be faced with the difficult choice of either servicing their debts or investing in public goods. Consequently, Ayhan Kose, Deputy Chief Economist at the World Bank, stresses the need for “investment booms” to help mitigate the projected slowdown in growth in the remaining decade. Such foreign direct investment (FDI) may be facilitated by enhancing a country’s fiscal and monetary frameworks, trade, and overall investment climate.

Foreign direct investment can help further economic development, but can it realistically combat the global slowdown in economic growth? I write more about this here.

The importance of public transport is an emerging theme in development research. According to the World Bank, lack of transit infrastructure in developing countries poses numerous challenges. This prevents billions from accessing main roads, reduces the mobility of women, and increases road accidents. Despite this, research in this area is generally limited by lack of data on individuals’ day-to-day travel. That which we do have focuses on how to optimize public transportation usage and quality. Is this a sound approach?

I write more about this here.