Features

The power of prevention: de-risking the future

On environmental, social and economic issues, nations face a set of ticking time bombs – and unless they take preventive action, their people and public finances will suffer. At the […]

Greg Orencsak, deputy minister of finance and chair of the Ontario Financing Authority, Province of Ontario, Canada, speaking at the 2019 Global Government Finance Summit

The productivity problem: causes, consequences and cures

Poor productivity hampers wage growth, stoking public dissatisfaction. As delegates heard at the 2019 Global Government Finance Summit, this is a decades-old problem with complex roots – and one demanding […]

Treasuries & transformation: finance departments’ key roles in digital

In many governments, finance departments view technology as a useful efficiency tool. But at the 2019 Global Government Finance Summit, delegates heard that successful digital transformation demands that finance leaders […]

Happy shoppers: spending public money well

Politicians love splashing the cash, finance leaders agreed at the 2019 Global Government Finance Summit – but spending that money effectively demands good financial management, intelligent targets, inspiring leaders and […]

Learning the lessons of ÉNA’s fall

France’s École Nationale d’Administration (ÉNA), which has educated generations of civil service leaders, faces an uncertain future under president Macron. Ian Hall considers why public opinion has turned against the […]

The roots of risk: how economic imbalances are poisoning politics

Gathering in Paris for the 2019 Global Government Finance Summit, finance department leaders from 10 countries debated the political risks threatening economic growth – and their roots in rising inequality, […]

Hatching the butterfly: public service transformation

Public services around the world are changing – but only a handful are being genuinely transformed from top to bottom. At the final session of Global Government Summit 2019, delegates […]

Unchaining the bloc

Behind all the hype about blockchain, there’s an idea with great potential. But as delegates heard at the Putting Citizens First conference, public servants won’t put aside their scepticism until […]

Enter the era of enterprise: leadership in the 2020s

Civil services are ill-equipped to handle today’s fast-moving technological, economic and social challenges. At the Global Government Summit, top officials from nine countries explored the pioneering, enterprising model of leadership […]

Boris’s Brexit trap

Members of the UK’s House of Commons will try this week to prevent new PM Boris Johnson from securing a ‘no deal’ Brexit – but Johnson is a step ahead, […]