Publications

Global South cooperation arrangements must evolve to better respond to pressing contemporary and imminent challenges, rather than risk being irrelevant straitjackets stuck in the past.

This discussion paper is part of KRI’s Gender and Care Work research series. It examines how unpaid care labour has been increasingly reframed in Malaysia’s policy discourse, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic

Malaysia’s 2025 Budget highlights a tension between bold ambitions and fiscal restraint. The push to cut the deficit below 3% risks underfunding development, weakening competitiveness, and worsening inequality. A developmental-state approach is urged, prioritising strategic investment, domestic financing, and growth-led fiscal health to break free from the Middle-Income Trap.

The World Bank’s 1981 Berg Report provided the blueprint for structural adjustment, including economic liberalisation in Africa. Urging trade liberalisation, it promised growth from agriculture.

Buying a new fridge for your new home is far less stressful than buying the home itself. While both may represent significant purchases in a person's life, the psychological and systemic differences between the two are stark. In Malaysia, this comparison goes beyond simple economics—it reveals something deeper about how our housing and consumer systems function.