Staff Position Notes (SPNs) showcase new policy-related analysis and research by IMF departments. SPNs are concise, employ nontechnical language, and aim at a broad audience interested in economic policy issues, including staff involved in mission work, members of the Executive Board, and readers outside the Fund. This series replaced IMF Policy Discussion Papers at the end of 2008. Most SPNs are limited to 25 pages and present only a few simple equations, tables, and charts; this format distinguishes them from IMF Working Papers, which tend to be longer and generally more technical in nature.