News and Analysis: 18 Mar--13 Apr 2016 | EmergingFrontierMarkets.com

Based in: Manila, Philippines

Posted on Fri, 29 Apr 2016:

Jason Furman: A competitive approach to inclusive growth, Milken Inst, Apr '16 [PDF]:
When barriers to competition -- such as monopolies or preferential govt regulations -- prevent new entry into markets, incumbents can collect more income than their productivity justifies. Economists call this extra income "economic rents", writes Pres Obama's Council Econ Advisers chair

Yes, culture matters for economic development, World Bank, 28 Mar 16:
A growing body of research in the field of behavioral economics has highlighted the importance of context and culture in shaping decision-making. From this vantage point, development progress depends on changing not only incentives (what "homo economicus" responds to), but also mindsets

Can India become a global economic power with an uneducated and unhealthy labor force? -- Amartya Sen, LSE (blog), 19 Nov 15:
The Nobel Laureate '98 visited LSE to discuss his new collection of cultural essays, "Country of First Boys". He also spoke to us about the Indian govt's approach to development, Kerala as a model for universal education and healthcare in India, and his faith in democracy (In conversation with Sen)

Posted on Wed, 27 Apr 2016:

Sometimes, the unintended consequences of Anti-Money Laundering policies are... well...funny, Ctr Global Devt, 15 Apr 16:
Robin casually sent a payment for the "Cuba Caribe dance show" via a mobile payment service, when he got a reply asking him to explain. While the matter was quickly resolved, for many people in poor nations, the unintended consequences of anti-money laundering policies are no laughing matter

New Delhi car ban yields trove of pollution data, Nature, 17 Feb 16:
New Delhi may be the world's most polluted city, but it's making an effort to relinquish that title. With pollution from particulate matter at potentially lethal levels early last Dec, city officials took a drastic step and announced that they would temporarily restrict the use of private vehicles

Beginnings - Joseph Stiglitz on his "breakthrough moment", New York Magazine, 12 Jan 16:
In the summer of '69, I was in Kenya. I had left MIT in '65, and these were economies in Africa that were clearly not described by the standard models. There were some developing-country problems like sharecropping, for instance, that were not standard problems. But the most dramatic was the unemployment problem

Posted on Mon, 25 Apr 2016:

Among Time's 100 most influential people -- China's economic power broker | India's prescient banker, by Stiglitz | Foorohar, 21 Apr 16:
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank pres Jin Liqun is leading an institution that is changing the geoeconomic and geopolitical landscape | Economic seers don't come along too often, but Raghuram Rajan, the economist currently serving as India's central bank gov, is one of them

Martin Baily: Stop worrying - The finance sector isn't destroying the economy, Washington Post, 21 Apr 16 [courtesy Brookings Inst]:
Oil spills and other forms of pollution are examples of negative externalities -- harm caused to others by the economic activity of a firm or industry. That criticism can be applied to the financial services industry, writes Inst senior fellow

Blind sided by economic history, Allianz's Project M, 3 Feb 16:
To Henry Ford history was bunk, Karl Marx thought it was tragedy repeated as farce, while German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer considered it the sum total of things to be avoided. For U Calif-Berkeley's Barry Eichengreen, however, history is a mirror that distorts as much as it reflects (Q & A)

Posted on Fri, 22 Apr 2016:

From high above the Pacific, Solar Impulse 2 pilot spreads Earth Day message, Fox News, 21 Apr 16:
Solar Impulse took off from Hawaii Thu on the 9th leg of its fuel-free journey around the world. This leg was delayed for nine months while the team repaired damage to the plane's batteries. The 62-hour journey to Calif. also coincides with Earth Day Fri (SolarImpulse.com)

At the IMF meetings - Emerging markets gloom may be overdone, panel says, 15 Apr 16:
"When you’re at the crossroads and you’re just looking at the intersection, it can all look pretty dark," IMF's 1st dep manag dir said at the seminar, "Emerging Markets at the Crossroads". The panel included Bank of Russia 1st dep gov. Argentina's treasury min and Moore Capital partner

Raghuram Rajan: Going bust for growth, MIT Press, 26 Feb 16 [courtesy Univ Chicago]:
The current nonsystem in international monetary policy is a source of substantial risk. We are being pushed toward competitive monetary easing and rotating crises, writes Reserve Bank of India gov [excerpted from Progress and Confusion, eds. Blanchard and assoc (Apr 2016)]

Posted on Wed, 20 Apr 2016:

Hubbard and Kane: Five ways to destroy the US economy, Weekly Standard, 18 Apr 16:
Is a slow-growth future inevitable for America? Instead of discussions about how to fix the mess, the populist-toned election is overflowing with proposals that will do even more damage, write Pres GW Bush's Council Econ Advisers chair; and Stanford's Hoover Inst res fellow

Guzman and Stiglitz: How hedge funds held Argentina for ransom, NYT, 1 Apr 16 [PDF, courtesy Columbia U]:
Perhaps the most complex trial in history between a sovereign nation, Argentina, and its bondholders -- incl a group of US-based hedge funds -- officially came to an end yesterday when the Argentine Senate ratified a settlement, write Columbia U res fellow; and Nobel Laureate '01

Prominent economist and dean Lester Thurow dies at 77, MIT News, 29 Mar 16:
The influential economist and public intellectual focused on income distribution early in his scholarly career. He broadened his interests over time and became a leading public voice examining many of the defining features of globalization (Tribute to a global econ pioneer, Sloan Sch [blog], 6 Apr)

Posted on Mon, 18 Apr 2016:

At the World Bank meetings - Bill Gates talks about "game-changers" in financing development, 17 Apr 16:
What would be a game-changer for achieving some of the world's most difficult goals -- such as ending poverty and hunger? Gates was on a high-level panel incl UK secy of state for intl devt, India Reserve Bank gov, Ghana fin minister, and WB pres

At the IMF meetings - How to achieve durable development despite hard times, 14 Apr 16:
Low-income nations need to diversify their economies, promote inclusion, and close infrastructure gaps by tapping both domestic resources and foreign funding to sustain growth. This was the main lesson of the conference "Sustainable economic development in a challenging global environment"

Kemal Dervis: Getting past slow growth, Project Syndicate, 15 Apr 16 [via Brookings Inst]:
Most economists nowadays are pessimistic about the world economy's growth prospects. And economists the world over are warning that we are facing a "new normal" of slower growth. Where there is less consensus -- or so it seems -- is in accounting for this weakness, writes Inst vice pres

Posted on Fri, 15 Apr 2016:

Where do people pay the most tax?, WEForum (blog), 12 Apr 16:
Belgians pay higher tax rates than any other citizens in OECD nations, or an average tax wedge of over 55%, according to OECD's new report. Austria has the 2nd highest tax rate at 50%, followed by Germany at 49.4% (Personal income tax rates worldwide, Global Finance)

Innovating agriculture - Growing small ideas into game-changers, OECD Observer, Apr '16:
"Necessity is the mother of invention" is an oft-repeated phrase that is highly relevant to agricultural systems today. Growing global demand for food, fuel and fiber will have to be met by improving agricultural productivity growth (Case studies of Brazil [exec sum] and Vietnam)

The great land rush - What price Indonesia's forests?, FT, 1 Mar 16:
In 2010, Norway's government offered Indonesia a billion dollars to save its rainforests - but progress is slow. Now its ministers are heading to the Borneo jungle to see if there is any chance of success (with support from Pulitzer Ctr Crisis Reporting)

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