News and Analysis: 3-17 Aug 2015 | EmergingFrontierMarkets.com

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Posted on Mon, 17 Aug 2015:

IMF urges Europe to provide 'significant' debt relief following new bailout agreement, Independent, 15 Aug 15:
Greece's "European partners" still need to provide the country with significant debt relief following its approval of a new bailout deal, the IMF has warned. The IMF's chief, Christine Lagarde, said Europe would need to help the debt-ridden country further to put its finances on a sustainable path. Germany's parliament will decide on whether to approve the new bailout deal on Wed

Boardroom/C-suite: A formula for innovation, Livemint/India, 25 May 15:
Rita Gunther McGrath is an expert on strategy in uncertain and volatile environments. Q--Why is India an attractive destination for you to set up your firm?; In your book, "The End of Competitive Advantage", you speak about short-term advantages that firms have to leverage. Does that render sustainable advantages irrelevant? (Making the shift from sustainable to transient advantage, Innosight)

Wagner / Weitzman: How to steer clear of the looming climate shock - Stick it to carbon, not the man, Univ Minnesota's Ensia, 25 Feb 15:
Two quick questions: 1) Do you think climate change is an urgent problem? 2) Do you think getting the world off fossil fuels is difficult? If you answered 'Yes' to both, welcome. You'll nod along, occasionally even cheer, while reading on. You'll feel reaffirmed. You are also in the minority. The vast majority of people answer 'Yes' to one or the other question, but not both, write Envir Defense Fund lead economist; and Harvard prof

Posted on Fri, 14 Aug 2015:

Mohamed El-Erian: Oil's new normal, Project Syndicate, 14 Aug 15:
Oil prices have been heading south again, with a barrel of US crude recently falling below $42 - the lowest level since Mar '09, the nadir of the global financial crisis. And, while last year's sharp price drop was heavily influenced by two large supply shocks, the current decline also has an important demand dimension, writes Pres Obama's Global Dev't Council chair / Allianz's chief econ adviser

Todd Cort: Black swans and sustainability, Environmental Leader, 3 Aug 15:
The crash of the Exxon Valdez, chemicals released at Union Carbide's Bhopal plant, poor labor conditions in Nike's supply chain, and Superstorm Sandy hitting the US Eastern seaboard. Though a disparate list, these events have 2 common characteristics. 1st, they had significant impacts. 2nd, each event was difficult, if not impossible to predict at the time, writes Yale Ctr Biz & Environ co-dir

Millennium Villages Project (MVP) launches retrospective analysis, Nature, by J Tollefson, 12 Aug 15:
The MVP stands out among dev't efforts in Africa. Since its launch in 2004, it has attracted generous donations and high-wattage supporters -- incl Angelina Jolie and UN sec-gen Ban Ki-moon -- for its work on alleviating poverty in rural Africa. The program has delivered aid to at least 500,000 people in 10 nations, and has been emulated in others. But its effectiveness has never been thoroughly tested

Posted on Wed, 12 Aug 2015:

China lets yuan fall further, fuels fears of currency war, Reuters, 12 Aug 15:
China's yuan hit a 4-year low on Wed., falling for a 2nd day after authorities devalued it, and sources said clamor in gov't circles to help struggling exporters would put pressure on the central bank to let it fall lower still. The central bank, which had described the devaluation as a one-off step, sought to reassure financial markets that it was not embarking on a steady depreciation

Nicholas Lardy: China's latest currency actions are market driven, Peterson Inst (blog), 11 Aug 15:
China may well be concerned about an econ slowdown accompanied by a slump in exports, but its motivation for this move is almost certainly tied to another objective: China's aspiration to have its currency join the 4 other major currencies (the dollar, euro, pound sterling, and yen) that comprise the so-called special drawing rights (SDR) basket of the IMF, writes Inst senior fellow / China specialist

Anderson and Regan: How trophy hunting can save lions, WSJ, 6 Aug 15 [via Hoover Inst]:
The killing of a beloved lion has inspired passionate calls to ban trophy hunting throughout Africa. Three US airlines have announced that they will no longer transport African animals killed by trophy hunters. Unfortunately, this one sorry episode is tarnishing the role that well-managed, legal hunting can play in promoting wildlife conservation, write Inst senior fellow; and Property & Environ Res Ctr res fellow

Posted on Mon, 10 Aug 2015:

Homi Kharas: Can the world end extreme poverty?, Brookings Inst (blog), 27 July 15:
The low-hanging fruit of reducing poverty in stable, well-managed nations has largely been picked. What's left in the road to ending extreme poverty is different. In some places it requires tackling poverty pockets in communities or groups that might not be prioritized by their govts. In other places it means developing approaches that can work despite a dysfunctional, or weak, state, writes Inst global econ & dev't dep dir

Nobel laureate steps down from Nalanda Univ after India gov't run-in, University World News/UK, 14 July 15:
As Nobel laureate Amartya Sen last week stepped down as chancellor of the new Nalanda Univ, which is being revived on the site of the ancient institution in Bihar state, he slammed Indian PM Modi's gov't for "extraordinarily large" interference in Nalanda and other higher educ institutions in the country, accusing the gov't of jeopardizing academic autonomy (Sen: The stormy revival of an int'l university, NY Rev Books)

Coffers: Lasse Pedersen -- Are markets efficient or irrational? Actually, a bit of both, Institutional Investor, 22 May 15 [via NYU]:
If markets really are efficient, then all investors should choose passive investing. Why? Because passive investing saves on costs, and you can't beat an efficient market. But if the market is largely inefficient, then investors can extract profits via the pursuit of active investing while society is plagued by the harmful effects of asset bubbles and crashes, writes NYU and Copenhagen Biz Sch prof

Posted on Fri, 7 Aug 2015:

Bjorn Lomborg: The best ways to fight extreme poverty, Project Syndicate, 22 July 15 [via Today's Zaman/Turkey]:
In 1950, people in S.Korea and Pakistan earned roughly the same amount of money annually. Today, the 2 nations are scarcely comparable. S.Korean per capita income has grown 23-fold since then, while Pakistan has experienced only a 3-fold increase. How can we help more of the world's poorest nations emulate S.Korea's success?, asks Copenhagen Consensus Ctr dir

Martin Feldstein: Will this be America's next economic crisis?, Time, 15 June 15 [courtesy Harvard]:
The US economy has, by and large, recovered from the financial crisis of 2008–09. The Fed's strategy of keeping interest rates exceptionally low led to rebounds in the stock market, housing prices and consumer demand, which in turn chipped away at unemployment. The difficulty now is getting the economy to grow again while the Fed returns interest rates to normal, writes Pres Reagan's Council Econ Advisers chair

Coffee/Tea Room: The six ironies of cross-cultural etiquette, Credit Suisse, 29 July 15:
Manners don't always travel well. When to arrive, whether to shake hands, which fork to use, how to run a meeting -- such customs vary from place to place, not always by obvious logic. Doing what you do at home can offend foreign hosts. Thankfully, there are some guidelines to avoid embarrassment, plus a 'golden rule', but probably not the one you think

Posted on Wed, 5 Aug 2015:

Member states lauded for reaching agreement on new UN sustainable development agenda, UN News, 3 Aug 15:
The agreement reached by member states on 2 Aug - "Transforming our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Dev't" - marks the culmination of efforts that began 3 years ago. The new agenda expands on the success of the Millennium Dev't Goals and contains 17 Sustainable Dev't Goals (SDGs). Next month, world leaders will formally approve the new sustainable dev't agenda at a summit in NY (Full list of 17 SDGs and targets)

Five facts about Asia-Pacific metro economies, Brookings (blog), by Parilla and Trujillo 3 Aug 15:
The world's economic center of gravity is shifting eastward and southward to a new set of high-growth cities. Our recent report mapped the econ performance of the 100 largest metro economies in the Asia-Pacific region -- the stretch of countries from East Asia to Oceania to the western parts of North and South America. (Asia-Pacific Metro Monitor 2014 - Engines of global growth)

Dani Rodrik on globalization - Q&A, Harvard, 29 July 15:
A growing global economy has helped lift millions of people out of poverty in recent decades, but serious disagreements remain about how best to improve the developing economies in this turbulent age of globalization, says fmr prof at the Inst Advanced Study: Q-Your newest book is called "Economic Rules: The Rights and Wrongs of the Dismal Science". Please tell us about the topics you explore in the book

Posted on Mon, 3 Aug 2015:

Singapore at 50 confronts aging, economic restructuring, IMF Survey Magazine, 22 July 15:
Faced with the physical limits of a city-state, and large inflows of foreign workers over the past two decades, Singapore has reengineered its growth model in recent years to emphasize skills- and productivity-led growth. Lower inflows of foreign workers are raising real wages relative to the cost of capital, which should drive up firms' desired capital-labor ratios and boost investment

Doing good scientifically, Harvard Magazine, by Z Zhang, 2 July 15:
How much does it cost to keep a Kenyan child in school? A decade ago, economist Michael Kremer found that improving school attendance among Kenyan children may be a $3.50-a-year problem. That's because--like one in four people around the world--many Kenyan pupils suffer parasitic-worm infections, and the resulting conditions, such as anemia, often make the children too weak to go to school

It's heating up - Industry needs climate-friendly policies to keep cool and competitive, World Bank (blog), by E Kechichian, 1 May 15:
Tackling climate change by focusing on industries has long been a contentious issue. Some industries claim that regulation will impede econ growth by imposing additional burdens on competitive sectors. But, if it is designed well and adapted to the context, a smart and timely intervention can influence a positive systemic change, writes Bank specialist on climate-efficient industries

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