News and Analysis: 19-31 Aug 2015 | EmergingFrontierMarkets.com

Based in: Manila, Philippines

Posted on Fri, 31 Aug 2015:

Cecchetti and Schoenholtz: Is China's devaluation a game changer?, Money & Banking (blog), 30 Aug 15:
Since '78, China has engaged in an unprecedented and wildly successful experiment, moving gradually from a command economy to one based on markets. There were surely miscalculations along the way. But, even big blunders could largely be concealed. Until now, write Bank for Int'l Settlements (Basel) monetary/econ dept fmr head; and NYU Ctr Global Econ/Biz dir

Blanchard - Looking forward, looking back -- Q&A with IMF's outgoing chief economist, IMF Survey Mag, 31 Aug 15:
Olivier Blanchard will step down as chief economist at the end of Sep: Q--You have at times pushed the envelope of IMF thinking and policy positions. How has this been received inside and outside the IMF?; Do you get the sense that the IMF would be more effective as a trusted confidential advisor or as a key player in shaping public national and international debates?

Boardroom/C-Suite: Porter/Kramer -- How companies can enrich shareholders - and the planet, Fortune, 20 Aug 15:
A quiet corporate revolution is underway: Companies are beginning to compete to change the world for the better. The drive for profit, often criticized for coming at society's expense, is enabling solutions to many of the world's most challenging problems. For decades, many firms ignored the social and environmental consequences of their activities, write Harvard prof; and Initiative senior advisor [via Shared Value Initiative]

Posted on Fri, 28 Aug 2015:

Paul Collier: If you really want to help refugees, look beyond the Mediterranean, Spectator/UK, 8 Aug 15:
"How many refugees should Europe take?" This has been the defining issue so far in European discussion of the crisis. Unfortunately, while well meaning, this approach is fundamentally irresponsible when judged from the perspective of the refugees, writes Int'l Growth Ctr co-dir / Oxford prof (El-Erian: Europe's migrant crisis eludes a market solution, Bloomberg) [via Nat'l Post]

China jitters, globalization bode ill for Fed's inflation goal, Reuters, 28 Aug 15 [via Business Insisder] :
Global central bankers meeting this week at the annual Federal Reserve retreat in the mountain resort of Jackson Hole, Wyoming, are likely to focus on recent market turbulence, the divergence between the world's two biggest economies and the question what is driving inflation in the post-crisis world

Coffee/Tea Room: Women worthy of (currency) notes, Finance & Development, Sep/Nov '15:
When it comes to money, it is a man's world. Or so it seems, judging from the faces of the great and the good who adorn the vast majority of nations' bills and coins. Yet some nations do use their currency to honor the contributions of their female leaders, artists, and other trailblazers. Charismatic figures include Argentina's Eva Peron, the Philippines' Corazon Aquino and Mexico's Frida Kahlo

Posted on Wed, 26 Aug 2015:

False alarm on a crisis in China?, Peterson Inst (blog), 26 Aug 15:
Recent econ events in China have created turmoil in the global markets. Many economists believe that China is experiencing a financial and econ meltdown. In particular, they believe that the debt burden incurred by China in recent years has thrown the country into a financial crisis. Is this nothing more than a popular narrative or not? China-economy watcher Nicholas Lardy explains

Andres Velasco: The emerging-market currency rout, Project Syndicate, 24 Aug 15:
With the currencies of Malaysia, Indonesia, S.Africa, Turkey, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, and Mexico hitting record lows recently, currency traders around the world are asking: how much further can emerging-market currencies weaken?, writes Chile's fmr presidential candidate and finance minister / Columbia U prof

Subsidies in aviation - The elusive flight towards fair competition, OECD (blog), by A Lumbroso, 24 Aug 15:
This year, much attention has been focused on three Gulf carriers. Their strong growth and increasing market share, esp. between Europe and points east and south, has generated concern from competitors that they are being unjustly subsidized and thus distorting the marketplace. Is this a legitimate concern or simply old-fashioned protectionism?, asks Int'l Transport Forum economist

Posted on Mon, 24 Aug 2015:

Lawrence Summers: The Fed looks set to make a dangerous mistake, FT, 23 Aug 15 [courtesy Harvard]:
Will the Fed's Sep meeting see US interest rates go up for the 1st time since '06? Officials have suggested that -- barring major unforeseen developments -- rates will probably be increased by the end of the year. But a reasonable assessment of current conditions suggest that raising rates in the near future would be a serious error, writes Pres Obama's National Econ Council fmr dir / Harvard prof

Is China's growth miracle over?, San Francisco Fed Econ Letter, by Zheng Liu, 10 Aug 15:
The recent slowdown in its growth has caused concern about its long-term growth prospects. Evidence suggests that, before 2008, its growth miracle was driven primarily by productivity improvement following econ policy reforms. Since 2008, however, growth has become more dependent on investment and overall growth has slowed, writes SF Fed's senior res advisor

John Cochrane: Greek lessons for a healthy euro, Süddeutsche Zeitung, 19 Aug 15:
The most recent Greek crisis brings to the foreground the main structural problem of the euro: Under a common currency, sovereigns must default just like corporations default. And banks must be open internationally, not stuffed with local govts' debts. This is how the euro was initially conceived. Alas, Europe's leaders forgot about the 1st and never got around to the 2nd, writes Hoover Inst senior fellow

Posted on Fri, 21 Aug 2015:

Why Al Jazeera will not say Mediterranean "migrants", Al Jazeera (blog), 20 Aug 15:
What would it feel like if your frantic flight from war was then diminished by a media that crudely labeled you and your family "migrants"? And imagine having little voice to counter a description so commonly used by govts and journalists. The umbrella term migrant is no longer fit for purpose when it comes to describing the horror unfolding in the Mediterranean

Tarun Khanna: Entrepreneurship - getting the basics right and the road ahead, Times of India, 10 July 15:
Any sensible blueprint for net job creation must promote and embrace a risk-taking mindset. The defining feature of the best ventures is not whether they make money or not, but how cleverly diverse skill sets come together to address a pressing need. Entrepreneurship is synonymous with creativity. A clever venture is a thing of beauty, writes Harvard prof

Nook & Cranny: After the Titanic - A lesson in unintended consequences, Sunnybrook (blog), Sep '11:
There is an obscure but fascinating story of the Eastland, a passenger ship in Chicago. It's a story of trying to resolve one risk but unintentionally creating others. Safety was top of mind in 1915, following the well-known disaster of the Titanic. Who among us wasn't appalled to learn that there weren't enough lifeboats to ferry the passengers and crew to safety that fateful night in 1912?

Posted on Wed, 19 Aug 2015:

Dani Rodrik: Back to fundamentals in emerging markets, Project Syndicate, 18 Aug 15 [via Korea JoongAng Daily]:
Following 15 years of hype, a new conventional wisdom has taken hold: emerging markets are in deep trouble. Now growth is down in almost all of them, and investors are pulling their money out - prompted in part by the expectation that the US Federal Reserve will raise interest rates in Sep. With hindsight, it has become clear that there was in fact no coherent growth story for most emerging markets, writes Harvard prof

How learning creates growth - Greenwald and Stiglitz, Univ Columbia, 20 May 15:
From Roman times to around 1820, over 90% of the world's population ate only staples such as wheat, rice, and other grains. They lived next to their animals and received medical care no better than what their animals got. But today, almost all people live better than the kings of previous years, say Bruce Greenwald and Joseph Stiglitz, co-authors of "Creating a Learning Society: A new approach to growth, development, and social progress"

Economists and the real world, Richmond Fed Econ Focus, by T Sablik, 1st Qtr '15:
How important is it for economists to gain real experience with the markets they study in theory? Many of the discipline's founders held other jobs initially. Leon Walras, who developed general equilibrium theory, worked as a journalist, novelist, railroad clerk, and bank director first. William Stanley Jevons, who helped develop the theory of marginal utility, initially studied the physical sciences and spent 5 years as a metallurgical assayer

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