50 years of F&D

The 50th anniversary of Finance & Development magazine, whose first issue appeared in June 1964, prompted the editors to wonder how its coverage has changed over the decades. These illustrations show the 25 words that appear most frequently in F&D by decade. The size of each word represents its frequency relative to the other 24 words.

Late 1960s

F&D was a joint effort of the IMF and World Bank until 1998. It sought to explain how both institutions worked. Gradually the magazine shifted its focus from the institutions to global economic and financial issues.

1970s

The system of relatively fixed exchange rates tied to the U.S. dollar collapsed in 1971, spurring international currency and balance of payments crises and a move from fixed to floating exchange rates. The decade also experienced two major surges in oil prices.

1980s

A sovereign debt crisis in middle-income developing countries, most of them in Latin America, dominated the decade. Countries coped with balance of payments issues and recession as they adjusted their economies to repay debt.

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