(May, 2010)
The global financial crisis of 2008 will pass, but for developing countries, periodic crises are likely to be the “new normal.” In this edition of the Distinguished Lecture Series, Ravi Kanbur, a leading scholar in the field of public and development economics,is of the view that since crises cannot be predicted, we might as well be prepared for them ex ante in order to cushion their impact on the poor. His main concern is to make protection of the poor in the face of crises part of the normal discourse of development through establishing a general system of social protection, capable ex ante of handling poverty increase coming from a wide range of different sources.