News and Analysis: 17-29 Sep 2014 | EmergingFrontierMarkets.com

Based in: Manila, Philippines

Posted on Mon, 29 Sep 14:

Arvind Panagariya: How to be an Asian tiger, Times of India (blog), 25 Sep 14:
East Asian economies relied on growth in labor-intensive industry, and accompanying expansion in jobs at ever rising wages, as the principal means of prosperity for the bottom half of the pop. India focused more directly on social protection for workers through legislation, foregoing good jobs and growth as well, writes Columbia U prof (PM Modi must convince US private biz on India's new policy environment)

Danny Quah: Economics, democracy, and the New World Order, Global Policy Journal (blog), 20 Aug 14
Every gov't must be insecure daily. Every ruler must every day understand their power to be built on the shifting sands of the will of their people. And they must strive daily to advance the well-being of their people. Yet some of us wake up daily to find ourselves living in a society where a narrow social elite is given everything while many others endure harsh deprivation, writes Lond Sch Econ prof

How imitation can sometimes beat innovation, Stanford Univ, 23 July 14:
In economic debates, it is about as close to a mantra as you can get: Innovation is good, and faster innovation is even better. You can never have too much of it. But there may be another side to the story. A new research paper shows that some countries are being entirely rational by tilting more toward adopting technology than developing it themselves

Posted on Fri, 26 Sep 14:

Nicholas Lardy: China's rise is a credit to private enterprise not state control, FT, 15 Sep 14 [via Peterson Inst]:
There is no shortage of critics who confidently attribute China's rise to state intervention in the economy. But the ranks of policy makers and commentators decrying Beijing's brand of state capitalism are wrong -- and, worse, they risk provoking short-sighted and counterproductive responses, writes Inst senior fellow / fmr Univ Wash Sch Int'l Studies dir

Fen Hampson: Big ideas in new economic thinking, Diplomat & Int'l Canada, 31 July 14 [via Ctr Int'l Governance Innov]:
It's been called the dismal science. But it's not really. There is a renaissance in econ thinking that is taking place outside the restrictive boundaries of the discipline that will revolutionize the way we think about economic policy. Many of these ideas were on full display at the annual conference that was held in Toronto earlier this year, writes Ctr distinguished fellow

A Yusuf and A Sumner: Indonesia's jarring wealth gap, Al Jazeera, 29 July 14:
As Joko Widodo celebrates election victory, new research reveals the gap between rich and poor has never been so great. The gulf between rich and poor has widened in Indonesia more than in any other developing country. So what's the cause of the nation's rising inequality?, ask Padjadjaran Univ Ctr Econ Dev't Studies dir; and King's Coll Lond Int'l Dev't Inst dir

Posted on Wed, 24 Sep 14:

3 Questions - New approaches to economic growth in Africa, MIT News, 23 Sep 14:
How can Africa find new ways to spark econ growth? That is the focus of a Q&A with Calestous Juma, Harvard prof, visiting at MIT: You have worked with the African Union as a high-level advisor to develop its new 10-year science, tech and innovation strategy. What are some of the distinctive features of this roadmap regarding the challenges of African growth? (Kenya - and Africa - under the microscope)

Yellen vs the Bank for Int'l Settlements - A stark intellectual disagreement in policy, Int'l Economy Mag, Aug '14 [PDF]:
For the 1st time since the monetarist vs Keynesian debate of the '70s, the econ policy world is in stark intellectual disagreement. At issue is the role of monetary policy and financial bubbles. A symposium of views from: H Sinn, J Attali, M El-Erian, R Cooper, J Makin, C Calomiris, B DeLong, W White, J Glassman, J O'Neill, M Baily, J Gagnon, M Boskin (among others)

Coffee/Tea Room: Gambling on your future?, US News & World Report, by S Veuger, 11 Sep 14 [via AEInst]:
What do incompetent gamblers, asylum judges, Indian loan officers, and baseball umpires have in common? Nothing, you say. Well, let's start with the gamblers. They expect the flip that follows a streak of heads to be tails, a poor prediction that will eventually lead to the crumbling of their wealth. But what does that have to do with asylum judges, and the others?, asks Inst resident scholar

Posted on Mon, 22 Sep 14:

Jeffrey Sachs: The 'WSJournal' parade of climate lies, Huff Post (blog), 6 Sep 14:
The Journal runs one op-ed after another purporting to unmask climate change science, but only succeeds in unmasking the crudeness and ignorance of Murdoch's henchmen. A recent op-ed by Matt Ridley is a case in point. Ridley's "smoking gun" is a recent article which he somehow believes refutes all previous climate science, writes Columbia U Earth Inst dir (Ridley: A response to Sachs)

Bjorn Lomborg: Misplaced obsession with climate change, China Daily, 22 Sep 14:
Climate is back on the global agenda with the UN Sec-Gen's call to world leaders to attend a climate summit on 23 Sep "to make climate change a top priority for all leaders". While it is important to find smart solutions to the real problem of global warming, claiming that on "top of the priority list is climate change" is misplaced, writes editor of How Much Have Global Problems Cost The World?

Mohamed El-Erian: Markets' rose-tinted world, Project Syndicate, 16 Sep 14:
This has been an unusual year for the global economy, characterized by a series of unanticipated econ, geopolitical, and market shifts - and the final qtr is likely to be no different. So why have financial markets been behaving as if they were in a world of their own?, asks fmr co-chief investment officer of Pimco / Pres Obama's Global Dev't Council chair

Posted on Fri, 19 Sep 14:

The business of borders, FT, by T Harford, 18 Mar 14 [via author's site]:
Is there an ideal size for a nation? Alesina distinguishes between the democratic equilibrium and the "Leviathan's equilibrium". The former is what might result if any region could secede by popular vote. The latter is the outcome of a process in which larger nations may find it convenient to absorb smaller ones (MIT Press: The Size of Nations | Does the size of a nation matter?) [PDF, courtesy Wilson Initiative]

Ebola -- Economic impact already serious; could be 'catastrophic' without swift response, World Bank, 17 Sep 14:
A new analysis of the Ebola epidemic just released finds that if the virus continues to surge in the 3 worst-affected nations--Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone--its econ impact could grow 8-fold, dealing a potentially catastrophic blow to these states. There is a need to mitigate 'aversion behavior'--a fear factor resulting from peoples' concerns about contagion, which is fueling the econ impact

Jong-Wha Lee: Will India emulate China's boom?, Project Syndicate, 28 July 14 [courtesy WEForum (blog)]:
In recent years, China and India have both emerged as global econ superpowers, with China leading the way. But with Chinese growth slowing and the need for structural change becoming increasingly acute, will the econ-reform efforts of India's new PM Narendra Modi enable the nation to catch up?, asks fmr head of Asian Dev't Bank regional integration ofc / Korea U prof

Posted on Wed, 17 Sep 14:

World hunger falls, but number of undernourished remains 'unacceptably high' - food agencies report, UN, 16 Sep 14:
More than 800 million people -- or one in every nine on the planet -- suffer from hunger, says a new joint report by the UN Food and Agric Org, Int'l Fund for Agric Dev't and UN World Food Program. With the number of undernourished people remaining 'unacceptably high', the agency heads stressed the need to renew the commitment to tackle hunger and transform it into concrete actions

What's lurking in the shadows of China's banks, IMF (blog), by S Barnett and S Roache, 15 Sep 14:
'Shadow banking' is a surprisingly colorful term; intended or not, it conjures images of dark, sinister, and even shady transactions. With a name like 'shadow banking' it must be bad. This is unfair. While we lack a uniform definition, the idea is financial intermediation that takes place outside of banks--and this can be good, bad, or otherwise

Generation Next -- 25 economists under 45 to keep an eye on, Finance & Development, by C Rollins, Sep/Nov '14:
We gathered information from scores of sources to compile this -- by no means exhaustive -- list of 25 economists under 45 who will have the most influence in the coming decades on our understanding of the global economy

EmergingFrontierMarkets.com

emerging and frontier markets:

the unofficial field guide