News and Analysis: 18-30 Nov 2015 | EmergingFrontierMarkets.com

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Posted on Mon, 30 Nov 2015:

Key sticking points in UN Paris climate talks, AP, 30 Nov 15:
Some 180 countries have already presented plans to cut or rein in their climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions. That's a huge step forward for the UN climate talks but a host of difficult issues remain to be resolved before a new climate agreement can be adopted in Paris. Here are some of the most important ones

Coffers: How to stay rational when the markets go crazy, Stanford Univ, by Charles Lee, 29 Sep 15:
As markets in the US and in Europe go through their most turbulent period in years, how does a rational, ordinary person save and invest for the future? If the markets can gain or lose tens of billions of dollars in a day, should we just run away? No. I and other scholars have been studying the impact of less-than-rational investor sentiment for a long time, writes Stanford prof

3 steps to decarbonizing development for a zero-carbon future, World Bank, 11 May 15:
Getting to zero net emissions and stabilizing climate change will require transforming how the world uses energy. Electricity from clean energy sources plays an important role. A recent report lays out three steps for a smooth transition to a zero-carbon future and provides data, examples and policy advice to help countries make the shift

Posted on Fri, 27 Nov 2015:

Michael Spence: Why is global growth stuck in a rut?, Project Syndicate, 24 Nov 15 [via WEForum (blog)]:
The global economy is settling into a slow-growth rut, steered there by policy makers' inability or unwillingness to address major impediments at a global level. Indeed, even the current anemic pace of growth is probably unsustainable. The question is whether an honest assessment of the impediments to econ performance worldwide will spur policy makers into action. writes Nobel Laureate '01

Infographic - 5 reasons why carbon pricing is the future, We Mean Business Coalition, 18 May 15 [via CarbonPricingLeadership.org]:
Businesses and govts all around the world agree that carbon pricing is the best way to cut greenhouse gas emissions while growing the economy. The prices we pay for goods don't usually reflect the cost of the carbon pollution caused by producing, distributing, or consuming them. Carbon pricing puts that right. There are 2 main options -- a carbon tax or a cap-and-trade system

Douglass North, Nobel Prize-winning economist, dies at 95, Washington Univ/ St.Louis, 24 Nov 15:
North, co-recipient of the '93 Nobel Prize with Robert Fogel, died Mon.(23 Nov). During his academic career, he pondered complex variations of a simple question: Why do some countries become rich, while others remain poor? An econ historian, he examined the formation of political and econ institutions and the consequences of these institutions on the performance of economies through time

Posted on Wed, 25 Nov 2015:

Nicholas Stern: The low-carbon road, Finance & Development, Dec '15:
Two defining challenges of this century are overcoming poverty and managing climate change: if we fail on one, we will fail on the other. Success in rising to both challenges depends on shared recognition of how they are profoundly interwoven, and of the complementarity between sustainable dev't, econ growth, and climate responsibility, writes UK House of Lords member / British Academy pres

Fed chair Janet Yellen very politely smacks down Ralph Nader, Slate, 23 Nov 15:
In late Oct, Nader wrote a rambling and somewhat offensive open letter to Fed chair Yellen in which he chastised the Fed for allegedly hurting savers by keeping interest rates too low for too long, then suggested Yellen ask her husband, Nobel Laureate George Akerlof, for advice on how to do her job (Nader's open letter to Yellen | Yellen's reply)

Ben Bernanke: Can China shift from industry to services?, Brookings (blog), 23 Nov 15:
Since the beginning of China's growth miracle, a large part of the country's development has been directed from the center. This 'top-down' approach has focused on heavy industry, infrastructure (highways, bridges, airports), the movement of people from rural to urban areas, and the promotion of exports, particularly manufactures, writes fmr Federal Reserve chair

Posted on Mon, 23 Nov 2015:

Strengthening regional ties is key to maintain Emerging Asia's growth momentum, OECD, 20 Nov 15:
While the outlook for many OECD countries remains worryingly subdued, Emerging Asia (Southeast Asia, China and India) is set for robust - though more moderate than in recent years - growth over the medium term, according to the latest OECD Development Center's Economic Outlook for Southeast Asia, China and India

Grow your own way, MIT News, 20 Nov 15:
A new study indicates that agriculture in Myanmar and other countries will experience substantial productivity declines in the next 30 years due to climate change. How will society adjust? One possibility might be increased trade: If one country suffers a decline in, say, wheat production but can still grow as much rice as ever, then - in theory - it might grow more rice and trade for its usual amount of wheat instead

A Harvard economist. A coup plot. A career forever changed, Chronicle of Higher Education, 16 Oct 15:
How did Dani Rodrik, a soft-spoken economist, get caught up in a supposed military plot to overthrow the gov't of Turkey? Once a favorite son, the Turkish economist with the highest global profile, he was forced to avoid his homeland for fear of detention. It's a personal ordeal that still wakes him up at night. To his bafflement, he found himself in a battle with Turkey's intellectual establishment

Posted on Fri, 20 Nov 2015:

It's back to the future as women's pay finally equals men's. . .from 2006, World Economic Forum, 19 Nov 15:
Despite an additional quarter of a billion women entering the global workforce since '06, wage inequality persists, with women only now earning what men did a decade ago, acc. to the Global Gender Gap Report 2015. The Nordic nations still dominate the rankings, while Rwanda, Philippines and New Zealand are the only non-European countries in the top 10

Boardroom/C-suite: Does business get done the same way in emerging and developed countries?, Harvard, 13 Oct 15:
We spoke with Prof. Felix Oberholzer-Gee, who had conducted part of a growing collection of interviews with business leaders in developing countries for the "Creating Emerging Markets" project, to discuss the advantages and challenges of starting, managing, and leading businesses in emerging markets

Bridging the global age gap, US News & World Report, by K Kumar, 8 Oct 15 [courtesy Rand Corp]:
The world is aging. The population pyramid--the distribution of people by age groups--is going to look less like an Egyptian wonder and more like the Washington Monument in a few decades. However, less is made of how heterogeneously the world is aging. Currently, over 25% of Japan's pop. is over 65 and around 20% in Western Europe, compared to only 5% in India, writes Corp's senior economist

Posted on Wed, 18 Nov 2015:

Pacific trade pact praised, panned as Obama urges approval, AP, 18 Nov 15:
Leaders of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade grouping met alongside a regional econ summit on Wed. in the Philippines and Pres Obama urged them to ratify the deal "as quickly as possible." Indonesia, Philippines and S.Korea are among other nations that have expressed interest in joining. The TPP has drawn criticism, however, from China and Russia, which are not part of it

Book value: 'Rise of the Robots' wins best business book award, Bookseller, 18 Nov 15:
Martin Ford's The Rise of the Robots: Technology and the threat of mass unemployment is the winner of the 2015 FT/McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award following a 'unanimous verdict' from the judging panel. It is described as a "tightly-written and deeply-researched" and discusses the impact of accelerating technology on our econ prospects

Which are the most prosperous country and most successful economy in the world?, Legatum Prosperity Index, 2 Nov 15 [PDF}:
Norway is the most prosperous country in the world, acc. to an international index by a think tank based in London. The annual index, now on its 7th year, ranks 142 countries across 8 categories. Singapore, which ranks 1st on the Economy sub-index, is deemed the most successful economy in the world (Country rankings)

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