News and Analysis: 1-15 Oct 2014 | EmergingFrontierMarkets.com

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Posted on Wed, 15 Oct 14:

Dani Rodrik: Are services the new manufactures?, Project Syndicate, 13 Oct 14:
One downside of China's success is that many other nations are finding it much harder to establish more than a niche in manufacturing. Thus, developing nations are starting to become more dependent on services at much lower levels of income than has been the pattern for industrial nations. Can service industries play the role that manufacturing did in the past?, asks Inst Advanced Study prof

Ghani, Goswami and Kharas: Can services be the next growth escalator?, VoxEU, 12 Dec 11:
Although conventional wisdom has been that labor-intensive manufacturing creates the most jobs in developing nations, recent data suggest otherwise; employment growth has been most rapid in the services sector. In industrial and developing nations alike, labor is being shed from both agriculture and manufacturing, write World Bank lead economist; consultant; and Brookings senior fellow

Alumnus Jean Tirole wins Nobel Prize in economic sciences, MIT News, 13 Oct 14:
Many of the research advances of Tirole, who remains an MIT annual visiting prof, have involved cases of oligopoly, where a few firms dominate a given industry. He has highlighted the need for regulation to be tailored to individual industries, while creating a general framework for understanding the nuances of regulation across industries (Tirole/Lerner: The simple economics of Open Source, Harvard)

Posted on Mon, 13 Oct 14:

Two billion people suffering from hidden hunger, says global hunger index, Int'l Food Policy Res Inst (IFPRI), 13 Oct 14:
A staggering 2 bil. people get so little essential vitamins and minerals from the foods they eat that they remain undernourished, acc to the 2014 Global Hunger Index released Mon by IFPRI, Welthungerhilfe, and Concern Worldwide, ahead of World Food Day on 16 Oct. Sixteen nations have alarming levels of hunger, with Burundi the worst affected, followed by Eritrea, East Timor and Comoros

Nobel Laureate in Economics: Jean Tirole, 'for his analysis of market power and regulation,' Nobel Foundation, 13 Oct 14:
Many industries are dominated by a small no. of large firms or a single monopoly. Left unregulated, such markets often produce socially undesirable results. From the mid-80s, Tirole (Toulouse School of Economics, Toulouse 1 Capitole Univ) has breathed new life into research on such market failures: how should the gov't deal with mergers or cartels, and how should it regulate monopolies?

Bits & Bytes: John Taylor -- A new twist in online learning at Stanford, WSJ, 1 Sep 14 [PDF, via author's site]:
For years, I taught Econ 1, one of the univ's most popular courses that covers the basics of econ. I usually teach in a large lecture hall filled with hundreds of students, but this summer I tried something new. I gave an online-only version of the course, with a twist: it was offered to our univ students for credit, as well as to the public, writes Hoover Inst senior fellow / Stanford prof

Posted on Fri, 10 Oct 14:

The Top 10 list you don't want to be on - dangerous places for girls' education, Brookings (blog), by R Winthrop, 23 Sep 14:
We're focusing on the challenges facing millions of marginalized girls who can't access a safe, high-quality education. While girls' education has been a success story in many parts of the globe, in these nations girls are still severely disadvantaged, writes Inst's Ctr Universal Educ dir (Inspired by Malala - raising girls' voices, World Bank [blog])

China caught in a currency conundrum, economist McKinnon says, Stanford Univ, 6 June 14:
Stanford economist Ronald McKinnon argues that China is caught in a currency trap because of its own savings surplus, the US fiscal deficit and near-zero interest rates on dollar assets. As a result, China cannot at this time move toward a more market-driven economy with liberalized interest rates and private banking (Stanford's McKinnon dies at 79)

Posted on Wed, 8 Oct 14:

Olivier Blanchard: Legacies, clouds and uncertainties, IMF (blog), 7 Oct 14:
Economies worldwide are subject to 2 main forces. One from the past: nations have to deal with the legacies of the financial crisis, ranging from debt overhangs to high unemployment. And one from the future, or more accurately, the anticipated future: potential growth rates are being revised down, and these are in turn affecting confidence, demand, and growth today, writes IMF chief economist

William Easterly: Singing about fighting poverty, slightly off-key, WSJ, 2 Oct 14 [PDF, via author's site]:
Two crowds gathered on opposite sides of the world last weekend. The 1st crowd was for a celebrity concert in NY, featuring Jay Z, Beyoncé and Carrie Underwood, fighting against global poverty. The 2nd crowd consisted of citizens of Hong Kong fighting for their freedoms against a recent decision in Beijing to deny them free elections, writes author of The Tyranny of Experts (2114) / NYU prof

Erik Solheim: Who listens to policy advice, and what happens when they do?, OECD (blog), 20 June 14:
One of the main tasks of int'l organizations (such as ours) is to advise govts on policy. So a recent World Bank report came as a shock to many: nearly one-third of the Bank's policy reports on econ sector work or technical assistance had never been downloaded and 87% was never cited. How then do we know that our work is having any influence?, asks OECD dev't assistance cmte chair

Posted on Mon, 6 Oct 14:

Ebola epidemic world's 'highest priority' - UN, AFP, 3 Oct 14 [via 3 News, New Zealand]:
The UN has launched a mission to prevent the global spread of Ebola, describing the epidemic as the world's "highest priority" as the US scrambled to limit its own outbreak. The head of the UN Mission on Ebola Emergency Response, began a tour of the 3 hardest-hit nations, setting out an ambitious goal to eradicate the deadly virus (Aid workers ask where was WHO in Ebola outbreak?, Reuters)

Is economist Dani Rodrik gradually 'going orthodox'?, World Bank (blog), by I Rossignol, 6 Oct 14:
Rodrik is probably best known for his opposition to 'one size fits all' growth models, such as the 'Washington Consensus', and his development of what is now called 'new industrial policy'. This drew on studies about the technological sophistication of exports and the processes of cost discovery among firms. But his recent papers may signal a subtle shift, writes Bank's competitive industries prog head

Leading researchers predicted for Nobel recognition, Thomson Reuters, 25 Sep 14
A leading company in scholarly-research analytics announced its 2014 'Nobel-class' Citation Laureates. Having accurately forecast 35 Nobel Prize winners since its inception in '02, the annual 'Citation Laureates' study mines scientific research citations to identify the most influential researchers in the fields of Chemistry, Physics, Medicine and Economics

Posted on Fri, 3 Oct 14:

World financial growth still falling short - IMF's Lagarde, Georgetown Univ, 2 Oct 14:
Despite some recovery from the '08 financial crisis, the level of growth sustained will prove inadequate to address problems in today's complex global society, said the IMF chief at a lecture in Georgetown Thu. "There is some econ recovery but as you all know and as you can feel it … that growth is not enough" (New momentum can help global economy beat mediocre growth, IMF Survey Mag)

Tough lending standards - Ben Bernanke can't refinance, CNNMoney, 3 Oct 14:
You want proof that it's tough to get a mortgage? Ben Bernanke, the nation's top central banker until the start of this year, is having trouble refinancing his home. He spoke of his problems during an appearance Thu at a confab in Chicago. During a Q&A session with economist Mark Zandi, Bernanke said "I recently tried to refinance my mortgage and I was unsuccessful in doing so"

Bits & Bytes: Your broadband speed is slower than advertised - study, BGR Media, 23 Apr 14:
Broadband Internet service is still painfully expensive and to make matters worse, a new study shows that most households aren't getting the data speeds they are paying for. The study is from Ookla, operator of the popular data website Speedtest.net. The data included the results of tens of millions of speed tests as well as a survey of speed test users (Download speed by country)

Posted on Wed, 1 Oct 14:

Ying Chan: The battle for Hong Kong's future - There's no going back, Guardian, 29 Sep 14:
The pro-democracy protests have given the people of Hong Kong their voice. And it has restored the city to international consciousness, reminding the world that Hong Kong is not just a city of high finance and outrageous real estate prices. It is also a city with dreams, for which its people are willing to take risks and make sacrifices, writes Hong Kong Univ prof

Martin Jacques: China is Hong Kong's future - not its enemy, Guardian, 30 Sep 14:
One scenario can be immediately discounted. China will not accept the election of a chief executive in HK hostile to Chinese rule. More likely is that China will persist with its proposals, perhaps with minor concessions, and anticipate that the opposition will slowly abate, writes author of When China Rules the World: The end of the Western world and the birth of a New Global Order

Angus Deaton: Using happiness data in policy making, OECD (blog), 18 Sep 14:
The happiness revolution is in full swing. Country statistical offices are beginning to collect data on well-being, and politicians are promising to focus, not just on econ growth and better material living standards, but on the much wider range of things that are important to people. This broadening of policy is much to be welcomed, writes fmr Amer Econ Assn pres / Princeton U prof

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