Innovative Approaches to Funding the Millennium Development Goals

Abstract

There are now a wide array of proposals for new forms of financing the Millennium Development Goals, of which this Policy Brief discusses the ninearguably most "popular". Such proposals can be sorted according to their funding source. Firstly, a number of global taxes have been suggested, such as currency transaction taxes, environmental taxes, a brain drain tax, an international airport tax, taxation of ocean fishing, taxation of arms exports, a "bit" tax on computer use, or a luxury goods tax. Another broad group of funding proposals involvesthe private sector, either public-private alliances or exclusively individuals,corporate entities and the civil society. Here the focus is on topic-specific global funds, a shift of charitable giving towards the Millennium Development Goals orGlobal Premium Bonds and lotteries to stimulate private funding. Thirdly, thereare proposals that can be categorised under financial engineering (if not money creation), such as a development-focused allocation of Special Drawing Rights at the IMF, the International Finance Facility, and the use of public guarantees to stimulate private funding