International Development Economics Associates (IDEAs) is a London, United Kingdom-based left-of-center network of economists opposed to traditional development economics. The group published reports claiming corporate greed caused higher food prices. ¹

The group’s executive committee includes a Chinese-based associate professor of Marxism. ²

The group has received donations from the Ford Foundation, Open Society Foundations, and other major left-of-center foundations. ²

Background

The International Development Economics Associates (IDEAs) was founded in September 2001 during a conference in Cape Town, South Africa organized by the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) with the support of the Ford Foundation. The group picked the executive committee at the conference. UNRISD gave initial financial support to the group. ²

The group has two types of members: regular and network. The executive committee chooses regular members. Network members are people who register with the group. The group claims more than 3,600 members from 114 countries. ²

Advocacy

Food Prices

In June 2022, International Development Economics Associates published an article analyzing why global wheat prices were high. The group agreed that the Russo-Ukrainian War was a cause of the increased wheat prices, but also claimed that “profiteering by major grain trading agribusinesses” was a major cause. ¹

In September 2023, the group published an article claiming that the easy availability of credit and speculation caused inflation. ³

In July 2024, the group published an article analyzing why domestic American food prices were higher despite the fall in global food prices. The group claimed that currency depreciation, capital outflows from countries, national debt servicing, and Western sanctions on some countries kept food prices high. The group recommended that developing countries “protect themselves by striving for domestic food sovereignty, regional arrangements to ensure supply, and capital controls to reduce currency volatility.” ⁴

Government Spending

In November 2022, International Development Economics Associates published an article opposing government spending cuts and privatizing state-owned enterprises. The group instead recommended higher taxes on the wealthy, expanding social security contributions and coverage, and restructuring and eliminating debt among other options. ⁵

Climate Change

In March 2023, International Development Economics Associates’ Jayati Ghosh published an op-ed opposing carbon tariffs on imports. Instead, she advocated cap-and-trade or carbon taxes, eliminating subsidies for conventional energy, subsidies for weather-dependent energy, and other public spending programs. ⁶

In December 2023, the group published an article criticizing the pressure on developing countries to combat climate change. Instead, the author demanded the redistribution of wealth from developed countries to developing countries to fund their combating of climate change. ⁷

Taxation

In May 2023, International Development Economics Associates published an article applauding several Latin American governments for raising taxes on the wealthy, corporations, carbon, and everything from soft drinks to single-use plastics. The article also argues that the 15 percent global minimum tax on corporations was too low. ⁸

Conference To Change Global Economic System

In August 2024, International Development Economics Associates hosted a conference calling for a new global economic system led by the “global South.” It claimed that the existing global economic system benefits the U.S. and Europe. ⁹

Decolonization

In October 2024, International Development Economics Associates wrote an article claiming that economics is based on colonialism. The group claimed that economics’ “Eurocentric narrative” distracts “from the violent processes of colonialism, exploitation, changes in social relations, imperialism, and racialization that shaped the advancement of capitalism in Europe, while creating underdevelopment in other parts of the world.” ¹⁰

China

In October 2024, International Development Economics Associates wrote an article dismissing concerns about a slowdown in the Chinese economy. The article claimed the Chinese government knew its model had to shift away from an export-driven economy and it had to reduce income inequality and invest more domestically. ¹¹

Leadership

International Development Economics Associates chairperson is Alicia Puyana who is a professor at Latin American School of Social Sciences (FLACSO) in Mexico City, Mexico. ²

The group’s secretary is Dzodzi Tsikata, a distinguished research professor in the Department of Development Studies at the University of London. ²

The group’s treasurer is Charles Abugre who works at the Kwame Nkrumah Complex in the Institute of Africa Studies at the University of Ghana, Legon, Accra-Ghana. ²

Other members of the executive committee include Pasuk Phongpaichit, an emeritus professor at Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand; Jayati Ghosh, a professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst; Andong Zhu, a professor at Tsinghua University, Beijing, China; Ebrima Sall, executive director of TrustAfrica, Dakar, Senegal; Martin Abeles, the director, of the ECLAC Office in Buenos Aires, Argentina; Vikas Rawal, a professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India; Wei Zhang, an associate professor at the School of Marxism, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China; and Ahilan Kadirgamar, a senior lecturer at University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka. ²

The advisory board consists of Maria da Conceicao Tavares, professor at Universidade Federal de Rio de Janeiro; Kari Polanyi Levitt; Diane Elson, emeritus professor at the University of Essex, United Kingdom; Korkut Boratav of the Turkish Social Science Association (TSSA); Arturo O’Connell, a member of the Board of Governors of the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic; Prabhat Patnaik, emeritus professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India; Dani Rodrik and Amartya Sen of Harvard University; Joseph Stiglitz of Columbia University; and Rolph van der Hoeven, professor at the International Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, Netherlands. ²

Financials

According to International Development Economics Associates’ 2023 financial statement, the group had £2,190,631($2,837,086) in revenue, £710,666 ($920,383) in expenses, and £1,645,057 ($2,130,513) in assets. ¹²

Starting in 2017, the group has received $5,137,979 in grants from George Soros’s Open Society Foundations. ¹³

Between 2022 and 2024, the group received £2,000,000 ($2,591,000) from the Ford Foundation and £750,000 ($971,625) from the Wellspring Philanthropic Fund. ¹²

1. Ghosh, Jayati, and C. P. Chandrasekhar. “Why Are Global Wheat Prices Rising so Much?” IDEAs, June 14, 2022. https://www.networkideas.org/featured-articles/2022/06/global-wheat-prices-rising/.
2. “About Ideas.” IDEAs. Accessed November 4, 2024. https://www.networkideas.org/about-ideas/.
3. Chandrasekhar, C.P., and Jayati Ghosh. “The Anatomy of Inflation.” IDEAs, September 5, 2023. https://www.networkideas.org/featured-articles/2023/09/the-anatomy-of-inflation/.
4. Ghosh, Jayati, and C.P. Chandrasekhar. “Why Do Domestic Food Prices Keep Going Up When Global Prices Fall?” IDEAs, July 24, 2024. https://www.networkideas.org/featured-articles/2024/07/why-do-domestic-food-prices-keep-going-up-when-global-prices-fall/
5. Cummins, Matthew, and Isabel Ortiz. “End Austerity: A Global Report on Budget Cuts and Harmful Social Reforms in 2021-25.” IDEAs, November 22, 2022. https://www.networkideas.org/featured-articles/2022/11/end-austerity/.
6. Ghosh, Jayati. “The High Cost of Carbon Pricing.” Project Syndicate, March 16, 2023. https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/carbon-border-taxes-protectionist-and-harm-developing-countries-by-jayati-ghosh-2023-03.
7. Ghosh, Jayati, and C.P. Chandrasekhar . “Another Cop-Out.” IDEAs, December 26, 2023. https://www.networkideas.org/featured-articles/2023/12/another-cop-out/.
8. Chandrasekhar, C. P., and Jayati Ghosh. “The Potential of Tax Reform in Latin America.” IDEAs, May 2, 2023. https://www.networkideas.org/featured-articles/2023/05/the-potential-of-tax-reform-in-latin-america/.
9. Pozzo, Estefanía. “Economists from Africa, Asia and Latin America Call for Global Financial System Reform.” Buenos Aires Herald, August 7, 2024. https://buenosairesherald.com/economics/economists-from-africa-asia-and-latin-america-call-for-global-financial-system-reform.
10. Dutt, Devika, Surbhi Kesar, and Ingrid Harvold Kvangraven. “The Colonial Origins of Economics.” IDEAs, October 20, 2024. https://www.networkideas.org/featured-articles/2024/10/the-colonial-origins-of-economics/.
11. Ghosh, Jayati, and C.P. Chandrasekhar. “The Angst over China’s Slowdown.” IDEAs, October 29, 2024. https://www.networkideas.org/featured-articles/2024/10/the-angst-over-chinas-slowdown/.
12. International Development Economics Associates Limited Financial Statement.” Mutuals Public Register. Accessed November 4, 2024. https://mutuals.fca.org.uk/Documents/Download/1093954.
13. Awarded Grants.” Open Society Foundations . Accessed November 4, 2024. https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/grants/past?filter_keyword=International%2BDevelopment%2BEconomics%2BAssociates.