News and Analysis: 17-28 Feb 2014 | EmergingFrontierMarkets.com

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Posted on Fri, 28 Feb 14:

Anders Aslund: Reviving Ukraine's economy, Project Syndicate, 24 Feb 14:
Ukraine has suddenly arrived at a democratic breakthrough. In order to consolidate its authority, the new govt will need to act fast and resolutely--and receive considerable intl support--to overhaul the nation's crisis-ridden economy. Ukraine suffers from three large econ problems, writes Stockholm Inst East European Economics founding dir / Peterson Inst senior fellow

US National Academy of Sciences, UK Royal Society release joint publication on climate change, 27 Feb 14:
The US National Academy of Sciences and the Royal Society, UK's national science academy, released a joint publication, Climate Change: Evidence and Causes, that explains the clear evidence that humans are causing the climate to change, and that addresses a variety of other key questions commonly asked about climate change science

Coffee/Tea Room: On the ball, Finance & Development, Mar/May '14:
Thanks to fundamental changes in the regulatory regime and other factors, intl mobility in Europe's soccer labor market has increased markedly in the past 2 decades. The ambition of almost every player is to play at the highest level in Europe. European soccer's success can be credited, in part, to the liberalization of the players' market. But what will the future bring?

Posted on Wed, 26 Feb 14:

No easy bailout plan for Ukraine, AP, 25 Feb 14:
Ukraine needs money, and fast--in weeks, not months. But bailing out the nation of 46 million people will not be as easy as simply writing a big check. For one, Ukraine has already burned the main global financial rescuer, the IMF, by failing to keep to the terms of earlier bailouts from '08 and '10. Now it needs help again, and its econ/financial problems are worse than before

Greg Mankiw: Yes, the wealthy can be deserving, NYT, 16 Feb 14 [PDF, courtesy Harvard]:
In '12, the actor Robert Downey Jr. played the role of Iron Man in 'The Avengers'. For his work in that film, he was paid $50 million. Does that fact make you mad? Does his compensation strike you as a great injustice? These questions go to the heart of the debate over econ inequality, to which Pres Obama has recently been drawing attention, writes Pres G W Bush's Council Econ Advisers chair / Harvard prof

Jim O'Neill: The 'MINT' countries - next economic giants?, BBC News Mag, 6 Jan 14:
A friend who has followed the BRIC story noted sardonically that the 'MINTs' are probably 'fresher'. What they really share is that they are all going to see a rise in the no. of people eligible to work relative to those not working. So, if Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey get their act together, some of them could match Chinese-style double-digit rates, writes fmr Goldman Sachs economist who coined the term 'BRIC'

Posted on Mon, 24 Feb 14:

Ukraine needs financial aid to avoid collapse, DPA, 24 Feb 14 [via Europe Online Mag]:
Ukraine's interim leaders are looking for foreign financial aid totaling 35 billion dollars to avoid bankruptcy, with the IMF and EU as potential donors. Ukraine was close to econ collapse at the end of last year, when then pres Yanukovych walked away from a trade deal with the EU and sought closer ties with Russia (Volatile Ukraine teeters on brink of bankruptcy, Deutsche Welle)

Jeffrey Sachs: From Moscow to Sochi, Project Syndicate, 17 Feb 14:
For 2 years (1992-93), I was a macroeconomic adviser to Russian PM Gaidar and Fin Min Fyodorov, trying to help end the high inflation and extreme shortages that characterized the last years of the Soviet era. Many thought then that it could not end high inflation or adopt a market economy. Two decades later, Russia has proved the skeptics wrong, writes Columbia U Earth Inst dir

G20 aspires to faster economic growth, roadmap sketchy, Reuters, 24 Feb 14:
The world's top economies have embraced a goal of generating more than $2 trillion in additional output over 5 years, signaling optimism that the worst of crisis-era austerity was behind them. The growth plan borrows wholesale from an IMF paper prepared for the Sydney meeting, which estimated that structural reforms would raise world econ output by about 0.5% per year over the next 5 years

Posted on Fri, 21 Feb 14:

IMF issues warning to G20 on dangers of stimulus withdrawal, ABC News (Australia), 20 Feb 14 [via Yahoo]:
The IMF says risks of turmoil in emerging markets and deflation in Europe are threatening the global economic recovery. The warning comes as central bankers and finance ministers from the G20 prepare to meet in Sydney. In a paper prepared for the Sydney meetings, the IMF urged that "advanced economies should avoid premature withdrawal of monetary accommodation as fiscal balances continue consolidating"

Harold James: The paradox of central bank cooperation, Project Syndicate, Oct '13:
Unlike in the 1920s, modern central bankers often attempt to formulate official rules. But adhering to rules can be difficult when they are confronted with the conflicting goals of preserving domestic employment and growth and ensuring that intl capital movements are sustainable, writes Princeton econ historian (Blanchard & assoc: Intl policy coordination--the Loch Ness monster)

Vienna is city with world's best quality of living, Mercer, 19 Feb 14:
Vienna takes the top spot in the latest quality of living rankings, followed by Zurich, Auckland, Munich and Vancouver. The study analyzes 39 factors important for expats and covers 223 cities around the globe. The survey helps multinational orgs compensate their expat employees and aids govts in benchmarking their cities' attractiveness for expats

Posted on Wed, 19 Feb 14:

Minimum wage hike would cut poverty but also jobs - Congress Budget Ofc, Dallas Morning News, 19 Feb 14:
Raising the minimum wage could lift 900,000 persons out of poverty but also cost a half-million jobs, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said Tue in a 43-page report that's sure to feed a simmering debate over how to help loft people up the econ ladder. Pres Obama wants to raise the minimum wage from the current $7.25 an hour to $10.10 over the course of 3 years

Will a minimum wage hike cause job loss? A leading economist speaks, Seattle Weekly News, 16 Jan 14:
Reacting to the governor's call to increase the state minimum wage, Republicans had a predictable response. "More people will lose jobs,” a senator said. If this were 20 or 25 years ago, most economists would have agreed with that, asserts Arindrajit Dube, a Univ Mass/Amherst economist and a leading researcher on the issue. But their convictions were based on what he calls 'shallow data'

Uri Dadush: Converging economic destinies, Current History, 1 Jan 14 [courtesy Carnegie Endowment]:
Sixty years ago, Singapore was an impoverished island whose future absolute ruler admired the prosperity and civilization of the UK, where he had been educated. Singapore and its fellow 'Asian Tigers' (HK, Taiwan, and SKorea) are emblematic of rapid development. Then, around the mid-80s, income acceleration took hold in China and India, writes fmr World Bank econ policy dir / Carnegie senior assoc

Posted on Mon, 17 Feb 14:

John Taylor: Obama and the IMF are unhappy with Congress? Good, WSJ, 13 Feb 14 [courtesy Hoover Inst]:
The $1.1 tril. spending bill signed into law by Pres Obama last month did not include a crucial change in the US financial contribution to the IMF. By refusing to accommodate the White House, Congress effectively rejected an intl agreement brokered at the 2010 G-20 meeting--and set off cries in some Washington quarters of a new isolationism, writes fmr Treas undersecy / Stanford prof

Mohamed El-Erian: A happier ending for IMF reform?, Project Syndicate, 3 Feb 14:
Congressional obstinacy is forcing the IMF to miss out on an opportunity to strengthen its finances at a time when most other nations have already approved the initiative. That is undoubtedly bad news. But there is also a silver lining, because last month's disappointment can be turned into an opportunity, writes fmr CEO/co-chief invest.officer of a global invest.firm

Less is more - Emerging economies as innovators, OECD Observer, Dec '13:
Heart attacks are the no.1 killer in India. Many of these deaths could be prevented if people with heart disease underwent electrocardiograms (ECGs). But ECG machines are expensive and big, so they are usually found only in hospitals. The trouble is, some 70% of Indians live in rural areas where hospitals are scarce. A multinational firm has solved the problem by designing a handheld ECG machine

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