News and Analysis: 24 Sep-5 Oct 12 | EmergingFrontierMarkets.com

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Posted on Fri, 5 Oct 12:

Martin Feldstein: Fixing America's fiscal problem, Project Syndicate, 2 Oct 12 [via Biz Standard/India]:
With America's elections next month already, it is time to think seriously about what will be done afterwards to deal with its fiscal mess. Regardless of who wins, addressing the problem can no longer be postponed. Americans are rightly focused on the 'fiscal cliff' looming at the start of '13. The Congressional Budget Office warns that falling off the fiscal cliff would push the US economy into a serious recession next year, says fmr chair of Pres Reagan's Council of Econ Advisers/Harvard prof

Making growth sustainable: Q&A with Jeffrey Sachs, Nature, 1 Oct 12:
The sustainable development of the world's rich and poor nations is a hot topic for debate as world leaders meet at the UN. A panel of experts appointed by the UN Sec-Gen met for the 1st time to begin defining a new approach to sustainable global growth. Sachs, a dev't economist at Columbia U, is launching a worldwide knowledge network that will bring together businesses, academics and leading thinkers to help find hi-tech solutions to the dev't hurdles (UN announces new sustainable dev't initiative) [PDF]

Ruchir Sharma: The India-Brazil axis, Globalist, 11 Aug 12:
There has been plenty of talk in recent years about the parallels and contrasts that mark the India-China relationship. Brazil--although half a world away--shows many more real-life parallels to India than China does. Both India and Brazil are 'high-context' societies, a term which describes cultures in which people are colorful, noisy, and a bit too casual about meeting times and deadlines, says author of Breakout Nations: In pursuit of the next economic miracles(2012)/ a managing dir of Morgan Stanley Invest. Mgmt

Posted on Wed, 3 Oct 12:

Developing Asia faces new era of moderate growth -- report, Asian Dev't Bank, 3 Oct 12:
The bank is significantly scaling back 2012 and 2013 growth forecasts for developing Asia, saying that after years of rapid growth, the region must brace for a prolonged period of moderate expansion amidst an ongoing slump in global demand. The projected slowdown is likely to ease price pressures, however, with inflation falling (Soft landing predicted for China despite growth cut | India's growth forecast down following delayed monsoon, weak investment)

Oslo, Zurich and Tokyo are most expensive cities in the world, UBS, 14 Sep 12:
Every 3 years, we publish an extensive study on prices and earnings, which is updated in the years between editions. The latest edition covers 72 cities in 58 countries. Our survey shows that Oslo, Zurich and Tokyo are the most expensive cities. Prices for many goods and services are lowest in the 2 Indian metropolises of Delhi and Mumbai. Taking rent into account as well, the rankings remain unchanged. Tokyo has replaced Copenhagen in 3rd place in our price rankings compared with '09

Coffee/Tea Room: Alex Pollock--Happy to work - but not to toil, FT, 21 Aug 12 [via AEInst & Council For.Rel.]:
Thank you for Sebastian Mallaby's insightful essay, "Why I work on my summer holiday". The key in this discussion is to distinguish between work and toil. Here I follow the American philosopher, Mortimer Adler. Adler himself was still writing books in his 90s. This was clearly work for him, but not toil. Would he have been happier with 'leisure', for example, plodding around after a guide on some packaged tour?, asks Inst fellow/Great Books Foundation chair

Posted on Mon, 1 Oct 12:

Greece enters home stretch on painful austerity measures, AFP, 1 Oct 12 [via China Post/Taiwan]:
Greece enters the final stretch on a tough new round of austerity cuts with the return of creditor auditors this week after a breakthrough in arduous talks between its political leaders. Senior representatives from the EU, IMF and European Central Bank--Greece's so-called 'troika' of creditors--returned to Athens on Sun. They had given the coalition gov't of PM Samaras a week to finalize the austerity package worth 13.5 bln euros (US$17.5 bln) in order to unlock 31.5 bln euros in frozen EU-IMF loans

Luigi Zingales: Democracy's burning ships, Project Syndicate, 25 Sep 12 [via Today's Zaman/Turkey]:
Legend has it that Hernán Cortés, in his quest to conquer Mexico, decided to burn the ships that had brought his expedition from Spain. At first, this might seem like a crazy move: why intentionally destroy the only possible way out in case of defeat? Cortes allegedly did it to motivate his troops. With no escape route, soldiers were highly motivated to win. Alexander the Great is said to have done something similar when conquering Persia, says author of Capitalism for the People (2012)/ Univ Chicago prof

Emerging, developing economies now more resilient, IMF Survey Mag, 27 Sep 12:
Many emerging and developing economies did well over the past decade and through the global financial crisis, acc to an analysis in the latest 'World Economic Outlook'. It also suggests this resilience is likely to continue, based on its study of econ expansions and downturns in more than 100 emerging and developing economies over the past 60 years (History offers tips for getting a handle on public debt | Possible trade-off between growth, safety in financial sector)

Posted on Fri, 28 Sep 12:

Robert Skidelsky: Does economic growth make you happy?, Times Literary Supplement/UK, 28 Sep 12:
Adair Turner is the jewel in the crown of British public servants. He is one of a tiny minority in public life today capable of thinking and acting at the highest level. Economics after the Crisis, based on 3 lectures he delivered at the London School of Economics in 2010, is a thinking person's delight. His book challenges the 3 main planks of what he calls the 'instrumental conventional wisdom', says pre-eminent biographer of Keynes/ Univ Warwick emeritus prof

World Bank warns of deepening Palestinian fiscal crisis, WB, 18 Sep 12:
The Bank's latest report on the Palestinian economy warns of a deepening fiscal crisis, calling on donors to act urgently. It also underscores how many layers of physical, administrative and security restrictions now constrain the private sector. The Bank published its Palestinian Economic Monitoring Report, a document prepared twice a year to inform the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee, a forum of donors to the Palestinian Authority, which is due to meet in NY (A vision of a future Palestinian economy, WB blog)

New report forecasts up to 3 million 'high net worth' individuals in Asia by 2015, Julius Baer, 25 Sep 12 [PDF]:
The number of 'high net worth' individuals in Asia may reach almost 3 mln and have a stock of wealth equal to $ 16.7 tln by 2015, acc to a Swiss bank's new report. The 2nd edition of an annual study, it continues to focus on Asia and examines the drivers of wealth creation in 10 economies and provides a break out of 3 key economies. A companion 'lifestyle index' has also seen an 8.8% rise, based on a basket of 20 luxury goods and services that represent discretionary purchases

Posted on Wed, 26 Sep 12:

Turmoil over austerity hits Spain and Greece, Der Spiegel, 26 Sep 12:
The euro crisis seemed to have disappeared from the streets of southern Europe in recent weeks. But on Tue in Spain, it was back as thousands marched in Madrid, resulting in dozens of arrests and injuries. In Greece, a general strike has shut down Athens on Wed. A Madrid bond issue on Tue saw interest rates on short term bills rise significantly over a similar auction at the end of Aug. The nation is also expecting the results of a bank stress test later this week

Asia poised to emerge as lynchpin of global economy, IMF Survey Mag, 21 Sep 12:
Asia is in a stronger position to tackle headwinds from the unsettled global economy, but the region must continue with structural reforms and embrace greater integration if it is to meet its potential, an audience heard at a key conference held recently in Tokyo. The best insurance against external risks would be to strengthen domestic sources of growth, while boosting intraregional trade and financial integration, acc to the IMF-Stanford Univ gathering

New world order, Knight Frank/Citi Wealth Report, 26 Mar 12:
While the balance of urban power today is held by a small number of megacities, some believe that could all change. Here we share some of the latest thinking on the rise of urban networks and the emergence of a new breed of city that punches above its weight. We present the views of: Columbia U's Saskia Sassen, who coined the term 'global city'; McKinsey Global Inst senior fellow Jaana Remes; and Louis Zacharilla, co-founder of the Intelligent Community Forum in NY

Posted on Mon, 24 Sep 12:

Customs delaying some Japanese imports to China, AP, 24 Sep 12 [via Star Tribune]:

(Ed's note: For some strange reason, we couldn't properly place a link to this article, as if we were being 'censored' by some unseen party. Since we deeply resent being interfered with, kindly just copy/paste the ff link to your browser to read it <www.startribune.com/world/170938191.html>)

Japanese exporters are facing delays in shipments to some Chinese cities due to stepped-up customs inspections as tensions between the two nations over disputed islands remain elevated. The delays in shipments to China have been caused by increased vetting by customs officials, an official with the Japan External Trade Org said. Japan's 2nd-biggest freight-forwarding firm, has cautioned its customers about possible delays at Chinese customs. Total trade between China and Japan totaled $352 bln last year

Shultz, Taylor, Boskin, Cogan & Meltzer: The magnitude of the mess we're in, Wall St Jl, 16 Sep 12 [courtesy Hoover Inst]:
Sometimes a few facts tell important stories. The US economy now is full of facts that tell stories that you really don't want, but need, to hear. We cannot count on problems elsewhere in the world to make Treasury securities a safe haven forever. If we stay on the current path, they will wind up being completely unmanageable, culminating in an unwelcome explosion and crisis. But the fixes are blindingly obvious, say Inst senior fellows (Bowles and Simpson: Debt solution must be bipartisan, USA Today)

Broadband deployment accelerating worldwide, but prices still need to come down, UN Broadband Comm., 23 Sep 12:
A UN commission set up in 2010 by UNESCO and Int'l Telecom Union has released its 1st-ever country-by-country snapshot of the state of broadband deployment worldwide. Today, some 119 nations have a national broadband plan or policy in place. The report reveals that while household Internet access has seen strong growth over the past year and is on track to achieve the commission's target, individual Internet use continues to lag behind (Highlights [PDF] | Country case studies)

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